^■U 


iiliili 


i         O       ^                 PRINCETON,  N.  J.                         ^^         i 

i               *                                                                       ! 
'       ■                                                                                1 

1 

1          Presented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Agnew  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

\      BV    125    .F5    1859 

Fisher,   William  Logan,    1781 

1862. 
History  of   the    institution 

HISTORY 


INSTITUTION  OF  THE  SABBATH  DAY, 

ITS  USES  AND  ABUSES  ; 


NOTICES  OF  THE  PURITANS,  QUAKERS,  ETC, 


WILLIAM  LOGAN  FISHER. 


SECOND    EDITION,     REVISED    AND     ENLARGED. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

T.  B=  PUGH,  BOOKSELLER  AND  STATIONER, 

KO.  615  CHESTNUT  STREET. 

1859. 


CONTENTS 


Preliminary  Observations — General  Principles 9 

Laws  of  Moses— Sabbath  an  institution  peculiar  to  the  Jews... 25 

Sabbath  of  the  early  Christians 47 

Sunday  of  Constantine 61 

Puritans  of  England,  Originators  of  the  term  Christian  Sab- 
bath  85 

Puritans  of  New  England 100 

The  Quakers 139 

The  Spiritual  Element — The  doctrine  of  the  Inner  Light 175 

The  Scripture— The  Clergy 192 

The  employment  of  Chaplains — Days  of  public  thanksgiv- 
ing— Sabbath  Conventions 208 

Man  cannot  work  unceasingly — Closing  courts,  no  reason  for 
closing  railroads — All  who  hold  according  to  reason, 
Christians — Universality  of  the  Christian  religion — Conclu- 
sion  , 224 


PREFACE. 


The  first  edition  of  this  work  having  been  long  since 
exhausted,  without  exhausting  the  demand  for  it, 
a  part  of  the  present  edition  has  been  re-written, 
and  considerable  evidence  added. 

I  have  received  from  Robert  Cox,  Esq.,  of  Edin- 
burgh, his  work  entitled  "  Sabbath  Laws  and  Sab- 
bath Duties,  considered  in  relation  to  their  Natural 
and  Scriptural  grounds,  and  to  the  principles  of  Re- 
ligious Liberty."  Also  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Sab- 
baths;" an  inquiry  into  the  origin  of  septenary 
institutions.  Both  works  exhibit  great  research; 
and  I  am  indebted  to  them  for  various  extracts. 


0  PREFACE. 

Since  the  folio-wing  pages  were  printed,  several 
of  the  annual  police  reports  of  our  large  cities  for 
the  year  1858  have  been  published. 

In  New  York,  called  the  City  of  Churches  and  of 
Palaces,  there  were  61,455  arrests  for  criminal  of- 
fences, 49  cases  of  which  were  for  murder;  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  there  were  121,597  vagrants  lodged  in 
the  station  houses,  and  this  in  a  city  peculiarly 
abounding  in  Sabbath  Laws,  Sabbath  Schools,  and 
Associations  for  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath — filled 
with  clergymen,  with  wealth  and  benevolence ;  the 
arrests  having  more  than  doubled  in  ten  years.  In 
Massachusetts  it  is  stated  that  the  criminals  have 
trebled  in  the  last  fourteen  years.  The  account  says, 
"  That  the  criminals  are  not  made  from  a  foreign,  but 
from  the  home-made  article,"  and  that  unless  there 
is  a  practical  reformation,  before  half  a  century  is  over 
^'  we  shall  be  ruled  by  the  criminals  themselves." 
(See  New  Bedford  Mercury.)  In  Philadelphia,  for 
the  last  year,  the  arrests  were  22,367,  being  less  than 
the  average  for  several  preceding  years.  These  num- 
bers, though  official,  are  of  too  uncertain  a  character 
to  be  any  criterion  as  to  the  relative  proportion  of 


PREFACE.  7 

crime,  but  they  all  alike  indicate  a  radical  defect  in 
the  systems  of  reformation  that  are  pursued.  These 
crimes  and  this  misery  are  not  necessary  attendants 
upon  city  organizations ;  they  are  mostly  produced 
by  man  himself,  and  are,  in  the  same  degree,  under 
his  control.  As  the  common  laAv,  interpreted  by 
wise  men,  is  the  most  valuable  of  all  law ;  so  is  com- 
mon sense,  interpreted  by  truth  and  wisdom,  the 
most  valuable  of  all  sense.  Yet  in  the  reformatory 
systems  of  the  day,  common  sense  is  laid  aside  for 
Sabbath  enactments,  which  it  is  vainly  believed  are 
sufficient  to  reform  the  world,  and  for  theological 
dogmas,  which,  above  all  else,  have  ever  been  the 
cause  of  crime,  and  suffering,  and  degradation.  True 
to  their  own  nature,  they  bring  forth  fruit  according 
to  their  kind.  These  melancholy  records  of  crime 
in  our  large  cities,  are  alike  interesting  to  the  states- 
man and  the  moralist.  The  statesman  may  read  in 
them  the  presages  of  revolution  and  bloodshed ;  mo- 
ralists may  see  how  little  they  comport  with  the  vain 
boasting  of  our  country  ;  and  all  alike  may  under- 
stand how  incompetent  the  present  means  of  reforma- 
tion are  to  accomplish  the  end  proposed.     The  Mas- 


rrvEFACE. 


sachusetts  account  states,  "  That  in  the  past  fourteen 
years  efforts  for  reforming  criminals  and  punishing 
crime  have  been  more  active  than  at  any  previous 
time,  and  yet  crime  has  trebled." 


PEIKCETOH 
,SEC.  NOV  1880 

TH-EOLOGIOi: 

HISTORY 

OF    THE 

INSTITUTION  OF  THE  SABBATH  DAY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Preliminary  Observations — •General  Principles— Violations  of 
Sunday  Laws — Extracts  from  Sunday  Publications — Sep- 
tenary Institutions  not  Universal — No  Sabbath  in  the  Patri- 
archal age. 

"No  man,"  says  Southey,  "was  ever  convinced  of 
any  momentous  truth,  without  feeling  in  himself  the 
power  as  well  as  the  desire  of  communicating  it." 

Whether  this  be  universally  correct  it  is  not  need- 
ful to  inquire,  but  a  very  careful  consideration  of  the 
historical  facts  connected  with  our  theological  litera- 
ture, on  the  subject  of  the  Sabbath,  has  resulted  in  a 
conviction  that  it  is  false,  anti-Christian  in  its  nature, 
immoral  in  its  tendency,  and  unworthy  of  the  intelli- 
gence of  an  enlightened  people.  This  subject  I  now 
propose  candidly  to  consider,  with  as  much  brevity 
as  the  circumstances  will  permit,  without  fear  and 

without  aiFection. 

1 


10  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

An  institution,  which  for  the  last  two  centuries  has 
been  the  subject  of  conflicting  legislation,  which  has 
been  by  turns  cherished  and  rejected  by  respectable 
men,  about  which  judges  in  their  ofiicial  capacity 
have  been  unable  to  decide  whether  it  was  an  ecclesi- 
astical or  a  civil  institution,  upon  the  proper  obser- 
vance of  which  scarcely  any  two  men  agree,  and 
which  has  been  made  the  occasion  of  severe  penal- 
ties, may  well  claim  an  impartial  narrative  of  the 
facts  connected  with  its  history. 

The  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  in  language  as 
plain  as  can  be  written,  guarantees  to  all,  liberty  of 
conscience;  the  amended  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  restricts  Congress  from  making  any  law  "  re- 
specting an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof."  (Article  3d,  Amend. 
Const.  United  States.)  Most  of  the  individual  States 
have  corresponding  constitutional  provisions,  yet  ex- 
cept in  the  young  commonwealth  of  California,  the 
judges  have  not  had  independence  enough  to  save 
the  people  from  oppression,  on  account  of  enactments 
regarding  the  first  day  of  the  week.  The  Jews  and 
Seventh-day  Baptists  have  both  been  persecuted  by  sec] 
tarians  who  differed  from  themselves,  and  many  other 
eminently  pious  persons  have  been  fined  and  impris- 
oned for  their  scruples  relative  to  this  particular  day, 
and  this  by  laws  that  are  absolutely  believed  to  be 
unconstitutional.     The   States  of  this  Union  furnish 


SABBATH    LAY.  11 

on  no  other  case  legislation  so  conflicting  as  that  re- 
garding the  Sabbath.  The  learned  and  the  simple  are 
alike  ignorant  of  what  the  law  is,  because  it  is  made 
by  the  courts  in  the  most  arbitrary  manner,  to  suit 
the  particular  case  under  consideration. 

In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  some  of  the  Supreme 
Judges,  in  their  official  capacit}^,  have  decided,  that  if 
these  laws  were  of  an  ecclesiastical  nature  they  were 
void,  because  the  Legislature  has  no  authority  to  en- 
act laws  of  that  character ;  other  Judges,  with  equal 
confidence,  have  declared  that  if  they  were  merely 
civil  enactments  they  were  void,  because  the  Legisla- 
ture has  no  right  to  impair  civil  liberty.  In  one 
court  the  Judge  has  ruled,  that  a  man  could  not  re- 
cover for  the  hire  of  a  horse  to  be  used  on  Sunday. 
In  some  cases,  contracts  made  on  Sunday  were  held 
to  be  void,  in  others  they  have  been  confirmed. 

There  are  no  laws  in  the  statute  book  so  openly 
violated ;  those  who  should  enforce  them  set  them  at 
naught,  and  the  whole  community,  almost  with  one 
accord,  disregard  them.  The  New  York  Tribune  of 
Nov.  20th,  1858,  has  the  following  remarks : 

"The  Annual  Report  of  the  General  Superintendent 
of  Police,  just  issued,  announces  the  humiliating  fact 
that  19,902  complaints  for  the  violation  of  the  statute 
against  the  Sunday  liquor  traffic  have  been  lodged 
with  the  District  Attorney,  not  one  of  which  has  been 
prosecuted.     Is  tlic  law  an  o])solete  affair  ?     On  the 


12  INSTITUTION    or    THE 

contrary,  it  is  a  part  of  the  statute  under  which  the 
Metropolitan  Police  force  was  organized.  District 
Attorney  Hall,  in  his  "  instructions  to  patrolmen," 
says  he  is  '  charged  by  law  with  a  duty  whose  dis- 
obedience renders  him  liable  to  a  prosecution  for  mis- 
demeanor himself.'  Eighteen  months  have  gone  by, 
and  twenty  thousand  out  of  the  millions  of  actual  vio- 
lations of  the  statute,  are  filed  in  the  Attorney's  of- 
fice— unheeded." 

The  reason  of  this  manifold  neglect  is  obvious ; 
such  laws  conflict  with  the  principles  of  human  nature. 
The  outskirts  of  our  towns  and  cities  are  filled  as 
well  with  the  aged  as  the  youth,  taking  that  manly 
exercise  on  Sunday  which  nature  calls  for,  in  de- 
fiance of  all  law.  Thus,  from  very  childhood,  men 
are  made  familiar  with  legal  offences,  because  legisla- 
tors, in  their  weakness  and  sectarianism,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  New  Testament,  lay  upon  the  people  bur- 
thens which  they  are  unable  to  bear.    (Acts  xxv.  28.) 

The  extraordinary  pretensions  of  those  who  peti- 
tion year,  after  year,  for  still  further  coercive  laws  for 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  following  extracts,  taken  from  late  publications  : 

''  Give  up  the  Sabbath — blot  out  that  orb  of  day — 
suspend  its  blessed  attractions — and  the  reign  of 
Chaos  and  old  night  would  return.  The  waves  of 
our  unquiet  sea,  high  as  our  mountains,  would  roll 
and   wash   from  West  to   East,  and  East  to  West^ 


SABBATH    DAY, 


13 


South  to  North  and  North  to  South,  shipwrecking 
the  hopes  of  patriots  and  the  world. 

"  The  American  character,  and  our  glorious  institu- 
tions, will  go  down  into  the  same  grave  that  entombs 
the  Sabbath;  and  our  epitaph  will  stand  forth,  a 
warning  to  the  world."* 

An  address  bj  the  Rhode  Island  Sabbath  Union 
says : 

"Violating  the  Sabbath, now  rife  through  the  land, 
must  be  done  away,  or  the  consuming  judgments  of 
God,  which  he  has  denounced  on  the  nations  that  dis- 
honor his  day,  will  lay  waste  our  goodly  heritage, 
and  overspread  it  with  the  blight  of  his  anger." 

A  highly  respectable  Sabbath  convention  uses  this 
languao-e : 

"  Property  earned  or  increased  by  Sabbath  dese- 
cration is  soon  squandered,  so  that  the  profligate  and 
beggared  son  trudges  in  rags,  where  a  Sabbath-break- 
ing father  rode  in  his  chariot." 

Another  of  these  degraded  papers  is  in  these  words : 

"A  wonder  in  three  worlds. 

"Are  you  a  Sabbath-breaker?  I  hope  not,  but  if 
you  are,  you  are  that  wonder. 

"  You  are  a  wonder  in  heaven ;  there  all  are  so  happy 
that  they  wonder  how  you  can  profane  that  blessed 
day.  If  you  die  a  Sabbath-breaker,  where  they  are 
you  can  never  come.  ^ 

*  Rov.  Lyman  Beech er. 


II  iNSTiTirrroN  (>i  nw. 

"You  ;m'  :i,  woiKhn*  iipori  (;:irtli.  All  triio  (Jliris- 
tians  onjoy  .such   holy  ()lca,sures  on  tho  Lord's  day. 

"  You  arc  a  woudiir  in  licll.  Donionn  and  lost 
hoiiIh  Jiro  HO  mis(;rahlo  iliat  they  arc  a.stonished  at 
you,"  etc.* 

Upwards  of  twenty  rospcctaJjlo  men  in  Now  York, 
a  comTnitt(!«  "on  tho  n^li^nous  and  civil  relations  of 
the  Snj)b;i,th,"  dcchiic  that  "  the  observance  of  tho 
day  is  of  [)!irarriouiit  iinf)oil;iii(;(!  to  th(^  purity  jirid  per- 
petuity of  our  IV(M'  irislitutioiis;"  tluit  '■'  it  is  ;i,  blessed 
day,"  that  "it  is  lu;  typi;  of  heaven,"  "vital  to  tho 
prosfX'i'ity  of  tnu;  rcli^fion,"  etc. 

If  th(!S(;  things  nvv,  tr\w,  it  is  iiri[K)rt;int  that  they 
should  b(!  known  nrid  undc-rstood.  To  truth,  every 
rcflcctiri^i;  uiind  should  yield,  let  that  be  wluit  it  may. 

Souio  of  th('S(!  (!\ti-;i,(-ls  it  would  Ix;  as  presumptuous 
to  (hiiiy  as  to  alfn-m.  No  i!it(!lli<i;(!nt  luan  would  pre- 
sume to  d(M;id(5  what  is  ;i;oin<^  on  in  other  Avorlds;  but 
so  f;ir  as  tlx^y  (^;mi  be  uii(l('fslo(»(l,  in  ('onncc-tion  with  tho 
most  authciitio  historical  and  moi-al  ("videnccs  respect- 
ing th(^  Sabbath,  (^very  word  is  beli(!V(Ml  to  Ix^  lalsi; — 
false  ill  piinciple  as  in  la(^t,  and  it  indicates  a,  vitia-ted 
taste,  injurious  alik(!  in  those  who  utter  such  senti- 
ments and  in  thos(!  who  believii  them  to  ])c  true, 
which  is  ea,lcula,t(Ml  to  ictai'd  that  rc^fincMnent  and  en- 
larg(!m('nt  ol'inind  tliai  are  essential  lo  the  w(!il  b('in<j;of 
society.  Let  us  not  deceive  oursi^lves;  (Jod  is  not 
•><■  Isaiiod  )>y  tho  Amcrlcnn  Tract  Society,  No.  20. 


SAIJIIA'I'II     l»AV.  l.'> 

mocked  ;  such  as  wc  sow,  siicli  hIimII  wo  reap.  Evory 
liilso  priiicij)lc  in  morals  produces  fruit  after  its  kind. 
Every  attempt  to  preserve  order  tlimu^di  (M-roiicous 
principl(»s,  is  but  sappiu^j;  the  fouudatioii  on  wliicli 
true  order  rests,  lience  it  is,  as  history  will  demon- 
strate, that  coercive  enactments  relative  to  llio  first 
day  of  the  week  have  resulted  in  evil  instead  of  jrood. 
Those  nations,  and  those  periods  of  time,  in  which  tlu^ 
Hahbath  laws  ha,ve  been  most  severe,  have  been  uni- 
formly niJiikcd  by  ;in  incrcMSc  of  monil  oIlrnccM.  The 
powca*  of  man  cannot  ])r('vent  it ;  «i;rap('S  do  not  <i;i"ow 
of  tliorns,  or  fi^s  of  tliistles. 

'Hw,  observance  of  Sunday  is  l>yniany.so  associatccl 
with  piety  and  religion,  that  they  reject  any  attempt 
to  investigate  the  autbority  on  which  its  sup[)ose(l 
sanctity  re))oses.  ^fbey  contribute  liberally  to  ex- 
pose tli<5  sujx'rstilions  of  ]);igiin  nations,  but  cling 
with  tenacity  to  tlios(;  of  tln^r  own. 

Notbing  could  \h)  moi'c  forc/ign  to  my  feelings  tlian 
to  promote  any  erroneous  vi(!\vs.  I  seek  to  (diei-isb,  not 
to  impair,  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  tin;  Obristian  r(;- 
ligion  ;  to  show  that  it  exists  not  in  fonrj  but  in 
spirit;  but  I  ;un  not  prepared  to  believe  th;it  idobitry, 
in  any  of  the;  various  sbajx'S  it  nssumes,  is  beneficial 
to  the  human  cbaracitei". 

The  timid  may  b(^  al;u-nie(l  :it  iniy  jillenipt  to  lessen 
the  sanctity  atta,elie(l  to  what  is  termed  tin;  Sa.bbalb  ; 
but.  it,  must  be  obvious  tbiit  evei-y  improvement  in  tin; 


16  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

morals  of  society  must  be  the  effect,  not  of  a  Sunday 
religion,  but  of  an  every-day  practice  of  virtue;  and 
those  efforts  should  not  be  disregarded  which  tend  to 
demonstrate  that  every  day  is  alike  holy. 

The  historical  evidences  respecting  the  Sabbath,  if 
men  seek  truth,  are  too  plain  and  direct  to  admit  of 
dispute.  The  schoolmen  said  to  Galileo,  ^'  If  nature 
is  opposed  to  the  Bible,  then  nature  is  mistaken,  for 
the  Bible  is  certainly  right."  Thus  it  is  that  trnth 
brings  no  conviction  to  minds  which  are  filled  with 
their  own  preconceived  opinions,  superstition  and 
prejudice. 

To  be  prepared  to  learn,  is  one  of  the  greatest  of 
human  attainments.  To  minds  thus  prepared,  and 
such  there  are  in  every  community,  words  fitly  spoken 
are  like  indexes  to  mark  sensations,  and  to  confirm 
sentiments  which  are  already  believed  to  be  true,  and 
thus  they  do  their  work.  To  sectarians  I  need  not 
speak ;  excellent  as  they  may  be  in  their  private  char- 
acters, they  seek  not  truth,  but  to  be  established  in  their 
own  preconceived  opinions;  to  these  they  sacrifice 
truth,  and  in  many  cases  they  are  dearer  to  them  than 
life.  Yet  with  all  there  is  a  certain  conviction,  that 
in  the  end  truth  will  prevail.  It  is  this  which  gives  zest 
to  all  our  hopes,  and  animates  all  our  expectations, 
even  in  moments  of  despondency. 

There  are  two  points  of  view  in  which  the  history  of 
the  Sabbatli  should  be  considered.     First,  as  a  civil 


S'ABBATII    DAY.  17 

institution,  as  a  day  of  rest  and  relaxation.     Second, 
in  its  theological  and  ecclesiastical  aspect. 

Those  alone  who  reject  its  ecclesiastical  character, 
are  prepared  to  appreciate  it  as  a  civil  institution. 
Divest  it  of  its  superstition,  and  it  assumes  a  beauty 
that  it  never  had  before.  Of  this  I  shall  treat  here- 
after. My  principal  object  is  to  consider  the  subject 
as  one  of  an  ecclesiastical  character. 

A  true  history  of  the  institution  will  show :  1st. 
That  its  alleged  sacredness  derives  no  support  from 
the  septennial  division  of  time. 

2d.  That  the  patriarchs  kept  no  Sabbaths. 

3d.  That  the  Sabbath  was  a  local  ceremonial  insti- 
tution of  the  Jews ;  that  it  never  had  application  to 
any  other  people,  not  even  to  the  Gentiles  who  lived 
among  them. 

4th.  That  keeping  one  day  more  holy  than  another 
is  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  to  the  letter  of  the  New 
Testament,  at  variance  with  the  practice  of  the  early 
Christians,  and  with  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
religion. 

5th.  That  the  observance  of  the  Sunday,  as  prac- 
ticed in  these  United  States,  is  one  of  the  superstitions 
of  the  day ;  and  as  such,  it  has  been  injurious  to  the 
morals  of  the  people,  and  increased  moral  depravity. 

1. — As  to  the  septennial  division  of  time. 
The  strongest  argument  of  the  Sabbatarians  for  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  is,  that  God  has  established 


18  INSTlTliriON    UF  Tin: 

it  as  a  prinioval  iiu^tltiitiou  lor  roliii^ious  purposes;  and 
tlioy  rotor  to  ilio  2(1  oliaptor  of*  (Poliosis,  wherein  it  is 
stated  that  the  lieavens  and  oarth  boinor  finished,  (5od 
rested  on  the  soventli  day  IVoni  all  Jiis  works,  and 
blessed  and  sanctihed  the  day. 

In  this  account  of  creation.  Nature  speaks  one  lan- 
guage, the  Bible  another ;  shall  ayo  put  aside  those 
unchangeable  marks  of  a.  creation  long  anterior  to 
that  recorded,  to  bo  guided  by  records  "Nvritten  whon 
or  by  whom  no  one  knows. 

The  account  in  the  book  of  Genesis  can  only  be  con- 
sidered as  an  allegory  calculated  to  please  children  and 
ignorant  men.  In  its  literal  sense  it  is  entitled  to  no 
conliilonco.  Wore  it  even  true,  it  does  not  warrant  the 
conclusion  wliioh  has  boon  drawn  from  it. 

It  is  eviilont  that  it  was  written  thousands  of  years 
after  it  was  alleged  to  have  ha])pened,  whether  by 
Moses  or  Ezra,  or  whomsoever  else,  one  fact  is  probable, 
it  was  written  after  the  establishment  of  the  Sabbath 
among  the  Hebrews,  and  the  inference  is  irresistible 
that  thence  the  Sabbath  has  taken  its  peculiar  type. 

Whether  the  institution  may  derive  any  authority 
or  not  from  this  particular  text,  would  be  of  little  con- 
sequence, if  it  could  bo  shown  that  the  division  of 
tinu*  into  seven  days,  for  holy  piu'poses,  Avas  primeval, 
ordered  by  liod,  of  universal  observation,  or  in  other 
words  a  law  of  nature. 

It  ha^  boon  very  hastilv  assununl  by  sectarians  that 


sAbbatii  day.  10 

this  is  so.  The  division  of  time  into  seven  days  is  of 
great  antiquity ;  it  is  found  among  the  Hebrews  and 
all  people  connected  with  them ;  it  is  traced  through 
all  the  languages  of  India,  in  Arabia,  in  Syria,  in  the 
sacred  books  of  the  Veda,  in  the  Sanscrit,  the  language 
of  the  holy  writings  of  Hindostan,  and  probable  had 
its  origin  in  the  lunar  festivals  of  "  new  moon  days, 
half  moon  days,  full  moon  days,"  &c.  Yet  extensive 
as  this  septennial  division  of  time  is,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  it  is  now,  or  ever  has  been,  observed  by  one- 
half  the  population  of  the  globe :  and  this  is  evidence 
drawn  from  the  most  authentic  history,  that  the  Sab- 
bath was  not  a  primeval  institution,  of  universal  ap- 
pointment. No  traces  of  it  have  been  found  in  North 
or  South  America,  in  Australia,  in  the  Polynesian 
Islands,  in  China,  or  among  the  Mongolian  races  com- 
posing the  vast  population  of  Eastern  Asia,  from  Thibet 
to  Java.  The  ancient  Mexican  calendar  shows  a  nicer 
adjustment  of  civil  to  solar  time  than  any  that  has 
been  found  in  the  world  besides,  since  more  than  five 
centuiies  must  elapse  before  the  loss  of  an  extra  day. 
It  had  a  week  of  five  days,  and  their  months  were 
periods  of  twenty  days;  it  is  a  very  curious  coinci- 
dence that  this  division  of  time  corresponded  with 
that  of  Western  Asia  and  China,  and  it  is  equally  re- 
markable that  this  should  also  correspond  with  the 
Sothiac  period  of  the  Egyptians,  wherein  the  annual 


20  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

season  and  festivals  returned  precisely  at  the  same 
point  in  1461  years.* 

The  curious  searches  into  archaiology  place  these 
facts  upon  the  most  reliable  authority,  yet  they  find 
no  traces  of  a  weekly  Sabbath.  In  Mahommedan 
countries,  where  prayers  are  said  five  times  a  day,  and 
where  the  rituals  of  their  religion  are  severe,  though 
they  have  the  seventh-day  division  of  time,  it  is  not 
held  sinful  to  attend  to  business  after  the  intervals  of 
worship :  thus  in  all  Hindostan,.  after  their  seventh- 
day  festivals,  the  business  of  the  week  is  resumed  as 
usual,  t 

There  are  divisions  of  time  existing  in  their  own 
nature  or  in  the  appointment  of  God,  obvious  to  all. 
Such  are  the  regular  return  of  the  sun  and  moon  to 
their  appointed  place  in  the  heavens,  day  and  night, 
evening  and  morning,  summer  and  winter.  These  are 
not  partial  in  their  character,  but  universal,  dispensed 
alike  to  all  the  world. 

No  one  mistakes  that  season  of  rest  which  God  has 
appointed  to  all  flesh.  In  the  fulfilment  of  this  rest, 
the  bird  returneth  to  its  nest  and  the  beast  lieth 
down  in  his  lair.  And  there  is  not  a  man  on  the  wide 
expanse  of  earth  that  can  pass  by  this  rest  and  live. 
Even  the  insect  understandeth  his  appointed  season, 
and  ceaseth  from  his  labor. 

^  See  Prescott's  Conquest  of  Mexico,  vol.  i.  page  102. 
f  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  Septenary  Institutions. 


SABBATH   DAY.  21 

Can  any  reflective  mind  be  so  biased  as  to  pretend 
that  the  first  day  of  the  week,  carrying  with  it  no  par- 
ticular marks,  bearing  on  its  character  no  peculiari- 
ties, should  be  a  day  appointed  by  God  for  religious 
observances,  in  which  no  labor  should  be  done  ? 

Who  among  us,  on  any  one  occasion,  has  witnessed 
little  children,  the  peculiar  favorites  of  heaven,  un- 
tramelled  by  sectarianism,  ceasing  from  their  gambols, 
because  the  first  day  of  the  week  had  come  ?  Who 
has  seen  the  bee  laying  aside  its  industry  and  stopping 
its  work  ?  Do  the  birds  and  the  beasts  retire  to  their 
nests  ?  No  such  thing  has  ever  occurred,  and  herein 
we  witness  the  perpetual  and  universal  law  of  the  uni- 
verse.    The  law  of  nature  is  the  law  of  God. 

May  we  not  rather  believe  that  the  weekly  division 
of  time  has  been  made  by  man  for  his  own  special 
convenience,  like  the  division  of  the  years  into  months, 
and  the  days  into  hours ;  that  it  has  been  created  by 
human  laws,  is  not  universal  but  partial  in  its  charac- 
ter, and  is  subject  to  the  powers  which  created  it. 
Thus  the  ancient  Greeks  divided  the  months  into  dec- 
ades or  periods  of  ten  days.  The  Romans  had 
neither  decades  nor  periods  of  seven  days,  but  divided 
their  months  into  three  parts,  called  the  Kalends,  the 
Nones  and  the  Ides.  Thus,  Brutus  stabbed  Csesar  at 
the  Ides  of  March. '^  These  were  all  subject  to  change, 
and  were  done  away  as  the  Jewish  calendar  prevailed. 

*  Plutarch's  Lives,  CcU^ar. 
9 


22  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

And  this  too,  in  its  turn,  will  cease  to  exist,  whenever 
society  shall  believe  that  its  convenience  will  be  pro- 
moted thereby.  Night  as  a  season  of  rest  is  univer- 
sal and  unchangeable.  But  the  seventh-day  rest  of 
man  has  no  fixity,  and  every  attempt  to  give  it  a  cha- 
racter which  it  does  not  deserve,  is  not  only  injurious 
to  the  day  itself  and  to  its  proper  offices,  but  imparts 
injury  to  all  who  partake  therein. 

The  universality  of  the  institution  and  of  the  sep- 
tennial division  of  time,  being  essential  to  the  proof  of 
its  divine  origin,  these  being  found  to  be  false,  the  argu- 
ment fails. 

An  institution  founded  in  the  nature  of  man,  and 
needful  to  his  perfect  development,  and  yet  un- 
known to  one-half  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  is  so 
utterly  irreconcilable  with  the  justice  and  mercy  of 
God,  as  hardly  to  be  entitled  to  a  moment's  considera- 
tion. 

These  are  the  truths  of  history,  and  they  tend  en- 
tirely to  abrogate  all  reliance  upon  the  institution  of 
the  Sabbath-day,  founded  upon  the  law  of  nature. 
This  is  confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  patriarchal 
age,  the  most  ancient  of  all  histories,  as  recorded  in 
the  Bible.  It  embraces  a  period  of  upwards  of  2000 
years,  in  which  we  have  the  lives  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
Jacob  and  their  descendants. 

This  history  is  not  without  a  record  of  its  religious 
rites,  some  of  them  very  remarkable ;  there  are  ac- 


SABBATH    DAY,  23 

counts  of  covenants  of  tlie  Lord  ^yiih  his  people,  the 
erection  of  altars,  of  prayer,  and  of  sacrifices,  jet  with  all 
there  is  no  record  of  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath- 
day.  On  the  contrary,  the  evidence  is  as  conclusive  as 
any  thing  of  the  kind  can  be  expected  to  be  derived 
from  such  ancient  history,  that  there  were  no  Sab- 
baths in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs.  The  word  is  not 
found  in  the  book  of  Job,  probably  the  most  ancient 
of  all  books ;  neither  in  Genesis ;  but  they  mention 
customs  that  are  irreconcilable  with  it.  There  were 
marriage  feasts  that  lasted  for  seven  full  days.  See 
Judges  xiv.  12  ;  thus  also  in  Genesis  xxix.  a  feast  of  a 
week  was  to  be  made  for  the  marriage  of  Jacob  with 
Rachel.  Again,  at  the  funeral  obsequies  of  Jacob, 
seven  full  days  were  spent. 

Those  who  recollect  the  continual  recurrence  to 
the  Sabbath  that  is  found  in  Jewish  history,  "to- 
day is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord,"  "to-morrow  is  the 
Sabbath,"  &c.  will  readily  believe  that  if  the  Sabbath 
had  been  founded  at  this  period,  it  would  have  been 
mentioned  in  the  account  of  festivities,  each  of  which, 
must  have  embraced  one  Sabbath. 

Iren^us  and  Justin  Martyr,  men  eminent  for  their 
piety,  who  lived  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Christian  era, 
have  united  in  the  opinion  that  no  Sabbath  was  ob- 
served in  the  patriarchal  ages.* 

*  See  Bailey's  Dictionarj.  Translation  of  Justin  by  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln. 


24  INSTITUTION    OF    THE 

Eusebius  says  expressly,  that  no  Sabbaths  were  ob- 
served by  the  ancient  patriarchs,  yet  he  adds  that 
they  excelled  in  piety,  righteousness  and  all  virtues. f 

It  should  be  considered  conclusive  upon  this  subject, 
that  in  the  orders  given  to  erect  a  tabernacle  or  place 
of  worship  to  the  east  of  Eden — in  those  to  Cain  and 
Abel  relative  to  sacrifice — to  Noah  to  sacrifice  on 
coming  out  of  the  Ark,  and  to  abstain  from  eating 
blood,  and  when  the  institution  of  circumcision  was 
described,  not  one  word  should  have  been  said  respect- 
ing the  Sabbath. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  remove  the  objection 
which  arises  from  this  omission,  by  asserting  that  from 
the  notoriety  of  the  custom  it  was  unnecessary,  and 
from  the  circumstance  that  circumcision  was  not 
named  from  the  settlement  of  the  Israelites  in  Canaan, 
down  to  the  circumcision  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  this 
argument  the  whole  of  the  17th  chapter  of  Genesis 
completely  refutes.  All  the  circumstances  therein 
detailed  evidently  show  that  it  had  not  been  commonly 
used  before  that  time.  If  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath had  been  a  common  thing,  like  circumcision,  it 
would  have  been  named  without  further  notice,  as  cir- 
cumcision is  named  when  Jesus  is  circumcised.  The 
difierence  in  the  treatment  of  the  two  cases  is  mani- 
fest. We  thus  consider  the  argument  that  the  Sab- 
bath derives  no  authority  from  the  septennial  division 
of  time,  or  from  the  patriarchal  age,  conclusive. 
f  Eusebius'  Ecclesiastical  History,  foliOj  1G07,  page  1. 


SABBATH    DAY.  25 


CHAPTER  II. 

Laws  of  Moses — Sabbath  an  institution  peculiar  to  the  Jews — 
Observed  by  them  as  a  day  of  rest  and  recreation — Labor 
strictly  forbidden — Feasting  and  cheerful  enjoyment  encour- 
aged—The Hebrew  interpretation  of  the  term  holy. 

We  come  next  to  the  consideration  of  that  period 
of  time  in  which  the  Sabbath  day  became  a  distinct, 
positive  legal,  institution  of  the  Jews.  The  law  is 
explicit :  "  Six  days  may  work  be  done;  but  in  the 
seventh  is  the  Sabbath  of  rest,  holy  to  the  Lord; 
whosoever  doeth  any  work  in  the  Sabbath  day,  he 
shall  surely  be  put  to  death."     Exodus  xxxi.  15. 

There  are  several  reasons  given  by  the  Jewish  laws 
for  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath  day. 

From  the  Decalogue  of  Exodus.         From  the  Decalogue,  of  Deuter- 

"  For  in   six   days  the  Lord  onomy. 

made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,         ''And   remember   that    thou 
and   all   that   in   them   is,  and     wast   a    servant  in   the  land  o^ 
rested  the  seventh  day  ;  where-     Egypt,  and  that   the   Lord  thy 
fore  the  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath     God   brought   thee    oufthence 
day  and  hallowed  it." — xx.  11.     through  a  mighty  hand,  and  by 
Again — "  Verily,  my   Sabbaths     a  stretched-out  arm  ;    therefore 
ye  shall  keep,  as  a  sign  between     the  Lord  thy  God  commanded 
me  and  you   throughout  your     thee  to  keep  the  Sabbath  day." 
generations.  -5^  *  *  Every  one     — v.  15. 
that  defileth   it  shall  surely  be 
put  to    death,   for    whosoever 
doeth  any   work   therein,  that 
soul  shall  be  cutoff  from  among 
his  people." — Ex.  xxxi.  1.3. 


26  .  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

These  reasons  being  essentially  different,  no  certain 
reliance  can  be  placed  upon  eitber. 

There  is  still  another  reason  given  by  Apion,  an 
Egyptian  author,  and  professor  at  Rome,  in  the  reign 
of  Tiberius;  it  is  this:  "That  travelling  had  induced 
boils  or  ulcers  on  the  Hebrews,  and  hence  the  rest  of 
the  seventh  day  became  necessary  on  their  journey.* 
That  these  ailments  being  called  sabbatosis  in  the 
Egyptian  language,  hence  the  Egyptians  called  the 
seventh  day  of  the  week  by  the  term  Sabbath."  Jo- 
sephus,  in  his  work  against  Apion,  makes  strong  ob- 
jections to  this  statement,  yet  it  seems  highly  proba- 
ble that  a  long  journey  in  a  warm  climate  would 
have  this  effect,  and  cause  a  necessity  for  periodical 
days  of  rest.     We  give  the  history  as  we  find  it. 

The  works  of  Justin  Martyr  mark  the  commence- 
ment of  what  has  been  termed  ecclesiastical  history. 
He  says,  "The  ceremonial  law  was  in  truth  given  to 
the  Jews  on  account  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts ; 
as  a  mark  of  God's  displeasure  at  their  apostasy, 
when  they  made  the  golden  calf  in  Horeb."  All  its 
ordinances,  its  sacrifices,  its  Sabbaths,  the  prohibition 
of  certain  kinds  of  food,  were  designed  to  counteract 
the  inveterate  tendency  of  the  Jews  to  fall  into 
idolatry.  "If,"  says  Justin,  "we  contend  that  the 
ceremonial  law  is  of  universal  and  perpetual  obliga- 
tion, we  run  the  hazard  of  charging  God  with  incon- 

*Josophns  against  Apion  ;  Works,  4th  vol. 


SABBATH    DAY.  27 

sistency,  as  if  he  had  appointed  different  modes  of 
justification  at  different  times ;  since  they  who  lived 
before  Abraham  were  not  circumcised,  and  they  who 
lived  before  Moses  neither  observed  the  Sabbath  nor 
offered  sacrifices,  although  God  bore  testimony  to 
them  that  they  were  righteous."* 

Beausobre,  an  eminent  French  protestant,  in  his 
introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  expressly  admits, 
and  gives  his  reasons  for  his  opinion,  that  the  Sabbath 
was  not  instituted  until  the  time  of  Moses. "f 

It  was  215  years  from  the  time  Jacob  and  his  re- 
tinue settled  in  Goshen,  in  Egypt,  until  the  period 
when  the  Israelites  finally  left  that  country.  During 
all  this  time  there  is  no  mention  of  the  Sabbath  day. 
It  is  first  spoken  of  in  the  wilderness,  on  their  journey 
to  the  land  of  Canaan,  when  they  had  manna  given 
to  them  for  food.  On  the  sixth  day  they  found 
twice  the  quantity  as  on  any  other  day.  The  account 
speaks  of  it  as  so  extraordinary  a  circumstance,  that 
all  the  rulers  of  the  congregation  came  and  told 
Moses.  They  seemed  to  be  altogether  at  a  loss  to 
know  why  it  should  be  thus ;  they  had  then  been  on  their 
journey  more  than  forty  days,  and  it  is  evident  that 
this  astonishment  would  not  have  been  manifested  if 

*  The  works  of  Justin  Martyr.  I  have  made  use  of  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  his  ''Account  of  the  Writings 
and  Opinions  of  Justin."     Page  22. 

J  Florae  Sabbaticoe. 


28  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

they  had  been  familiar  with  the  institution.  After- 
wards, at  Mount  Sinai,  it  was  more  expressly  spoken 
of ;  but  all  the  evidence  goes  to  show,  that  it  was 
never  known  as  an  institution  before  this  period. 

The  prophet  Nehemiah  says,  "  Thou  camest  down 
also  upon  Mount  Sinai,  *  *  *  *  and  madest  known 
unto  them  thy  holy  Sabbath,  and  commandedst  them 
precepts,  statutes  and  laws  by  the  hand  of  Moses,  thy 
servant."     Chap.  ix.  13,  14. 

The  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  speaking  of  Selden's 
wark,  "De  Jure  Naturali,"  says,  that  he  has  col- 
lected all  that  can  be  found  on  the  interesting  sub- 
ject of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath.  His  investi- 
gations show  the  most  extensive  research.  The  work 
is  old  and  of  rare  occurrence,  and  appears  to  have 
been  written  without  sectarian  bias. 

He  takes  the  same  view  of  the  subject,  and  says 
the  institution  was  first  given  to  the  Jews  at  Marah, 
in  the  wilderness,  after  leaving  Egypt.  That  it  was  a 
sign  between  God  and  the  Jews,  and  that  the  Jewish 
writers  maintained  that  it  is  not  binding  upon  Gen- 
tiles.    Exodus  xxxi.  15,  16,  17. 

Paley,  after  having  examined  the  subject  with  great 
care,  says : 

"  So  far  as  Scripture  history  can  be  relied  upon,  it 
was  at  Mount  Sinai,  in  the  wilderness,  that  keeping  a 
Sabbath  was  first  made  a  law  to  the  Jews,  and  it  was 
repeated  at  different  times,  "  Six  days  may  work  be 


SABBATH    DAY.  29 

done,  but  in  the  seventh  is  the  Sabbath  of  rest,  holy 
unto  the  Lord :  whosoever  doeth  any  work  in  the  Sab- 
bath day,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  "Where- 
fore the  children  of  Israel  shall  keep  the  Sabbath,  to 
observe  the  Sabbath  throughout  their  generations,  for 
a  perpetual  covenant." 

"  It  is  a  sign  between  me  and  the  children  of  Israel 
forever :  for  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and 
earth,  and  on  the  seventh  day  he  rested  and  was  re- 
freshed."* 

Again :  "  Six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  field,  and 
six  years  thou  shalt  prune  thy  vineyard,  and  gather 
in  the  fruit  thereof;  but  in  the  seventh  year  shall  be 
a  Sabbath  of  rest  unto  the  land,  a  Sabbath  for  the 
Lord  ;  thou  shalt  neither  sow  thy  field,  nor  prune  thy 
vineyard.  That  which  groweth  of  its  own  accord  of 
thy  harvest  thou  shalt  not  reap,  neither  gather  the 
grapes  of  thy  vine  undressed :  for  it  is  a  year  of  rest 
unto  the  land."t 

After  seven  Sabbath  years  there  was  still  to  be  an- 
other year  of  rest,  called  the  year  of  jubilee,  in  which 
liberty  and  restitution  were  to  be  proclaimed. 

This  has  always  seemed  to  me  the  most  beautiful 
part  of  the  Jewish  policy.  No  matter  how  unwise  or 
unfortunate  (as  the  term  is)  families  or  individuals 
may  have  been,  the  jubilee  year  restored  to  them  their 
possessions. 

*  Exodus  xxxi.  15,  16,  17.  f  Lev.  xxv.  3,  4,  5. 


30  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

If  Christians  are  bound  to  observe  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath, they  are  bound  also  to  observe  the  Sabbatical 
year  and  the  year  of  jubilee. 

Many  of  the  laws  of  the  Jews  appear  enlightened, 
some  of  them  trifling,  and  others  we  are  unable  to 
understand.  Among  them  we  find  the  following: 
"  Thou  shalt  not  wear  a  garment  of  divers  sorts,  as 
of  woollen  and  linen  together."  ^'  Thou  shalt  make 
thee  fringes  upon  the  four  quarters  of  thy  vesture 
wherewith  thou  coverest  thyself."*  And  others  of 
the  same  character. 

These  laws  were  no  doubt  applicable  to  the  Jews, 
but  while  we  know  so  little  of  their  policy  we  are  un- 
able to  understand  them. 

The  particular  kind  of  cultivation  that  obtains  in 
parts  of  several  States  in  this  Union,  requires  that  the 
land  should  have  rest  every  third  year.  They  neither 
sow  nor  reap,  nor  gather  its  produce.  It  is  as  com- 
plete a  Sabbath  of  rest  to  the  soil  as  ever  was  observed 
in  the  land  of  Judah,  and  probably  from  the  same 
cause. 

In  the  lower  parts  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  where 
they  exhaust  the  soil  by  cropping  without  a  corres- 
ponding nourishment,  they  give  it  rest  every  third  or 
fourth  year.  This  is  analogous  to  what  occurs  in  the 
animal  creation ;  give  a  man  unceasing  work  and  he 
will  perish,  and  the  reason  for  the  establishment  of  a 

*  Deuteronomy  xxii.  11,  12. 


SABBATH    DAY.  31 

Sabbath-day  among  the  Jews,  would  perhaps  be  found 
in  the  necessity  of  rest  on  their  journey,  in  their 
diet,  or  mode  of  employment.  They  fed  upon  food 
less  savory  than  that  of  the  present  day ;  acrimonious 
fruits  and  vegetables  have  been  succeeded  by  those  of 
a  bland  and  nutritious  character.  Man  can  no  more 
be  worked  beyond  the  nutriment  that  he  receives,  and 
the  powers  of  nature,  than  a  horse  or  an  inanimate 
machine. 

No  one  at  this  remote  period  can  decide,  why  the 
Sabbath  was  instituted.  The  septenary  lunar  festi- 
vals of  India,  Chaldea  and  Egypt,  were  public  holi- 
days.* Little  doubt  can  remain,  that  this  was  the 
primary  source  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  We  have 
before  referred  to  the  opinion  of  Apion,  the  Egyp- 
tian historian,  that  it  was  induced  by  the  prevalence 
of  disease  among  the  Hebrews  in  their  journey  through 
the  wilderness :  this  idea  is  strengthened  by  a  critical 
observation  of  the  Jewish  laws ;  it  was  not  a  day  of 
religious  solemnities,  but  simply  a  day  of  rest,  relaxa- 
tion and  rejoicing.  The  Jewish  laws  have  no  applica- 
tion to  us.  We  were  never  servants  in  the  land  of 
Egypt.  He  brought  us  not  thence,  neither  our  fore- 
fathers, ''through  a  mighty  hand  and  stretched  out 
arm."  It  is  not  esteemed  to  be  a  sign  to  us,  that  in 
six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  on  the 
seventh  he  rested  and  was  refreshed.  Exodus  xxxi. 
*  Septenary  Institutions,  page  54, 


-32  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

17.  We  recognize  in  the  divine  harmony  no  exhaus- 
tion, and  of  course  no  refreshing ;  we  read  the  beauti- 
ful sentiment  of  Christ  upon  this  subject :  "  My  Fa- 
ther worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work;"  we  recognize  it 
alike  for  its  beauty  and  its  truth,  and  yet  we  are  to  be 
dragged  back  to  acknowledge  musty  records  which  if 
they  are  true,  tend  to  degrade  all  that  we  know  and 
all  that  we  believe  of  the  efficacy  of  the  Divine 
power. 

In  Exodus  xxxi.  13,  14,  also  in  other  places,  the 
Sabbath  is  as  expressly  confined  to  the  children  of 
Israel  as  words  can  make  it :  "  Speak  thou  also  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  Yerily  my  Sabbaths 
ye  shall  keep :  for  it  is  a  sign  between  me  and  ^ou 
throughout  ^our  generations ;  that  ye  may  know  that 
I  am  the  Lord  that  doth  sanctify  you."  ''It  is  holy 
unto  you."  "It  is  a  sign  between  me  and  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  forever."  The  same  ideas  are  expressed 
in  Exodus  xxxv.  2,  3,  Leviticus  xxiii.  3,  and  xv.  25. 
In  consideration  of  these  passages,  it  is  not  easy  to 
understand  how  any  unbiased  mind  can,  for  a  mo- 
ment, believe  that  an  institution  so  expressly  com- 
manded for  the  Israelites,  should  be  intended  to  apply 
to  the  whole  world ;  or  how  Nehemiah,  in  the  text  al- 
ready referred  to,  could  have  spoken  of  the  Sabbath 
as  first  made  known  to  them  when  Moses  came  down 
from  Mount  Sinai,  if  it  had  been  known  before,  or  had 
been  designed  for  any  other  people. 


SABBATH    DAY.  33 

The  prophet  Ezekiel  says,  "Wherefore  I  caused 
them  to  go  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
brought  them  into  the  wilderness ;  and  I  gave  them 
my  statutes  and  showed  them  my  judgments,  which  if 
a  man  do  he  shall  even  live  in  them.  Moreover,  I 
gave  them  my  Sabbaths,  to  be  a  sign  between  me  and 
them,  that  they  might  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  that 
sanctify  them."* 

The  Bible  refers,  in  many  instances,  to  the  vices  of 
the  Gentiles ;  but  among  these  it  is  never  once  inti- 
mated that  they  had  neglected  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  day.  The  reason  seems  obvious  ;  the  law  in 
regard  to  the  Sabbath  had  no  application  to  them. 

Besides  every  seventh  day,  there  were  nine  other 
days,  on  which  the  Jews  were  required  to  abstain 
from  all  servile  labor.  The  Sabbath  of  atonement, 
as  it  is  called  in  Scripture ;  the  first  day  of  the  feast 
of  Tabernacles;  the  eighth  day  of  the  same,  both 
called  sabbaths  in  the  Old  Testament ;  the  first  day  of 
the  Passover;  the  seventh  day  of  the  same;  the  first 
and  seventh  day  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread ;  the 
day  of  the  wave  ofi'ering,  and  the  first  day  of  the 
Seventh  month.  There  were  also  the  daily  sacrifice, 
meat  and  drink  ofi'ering,  the  sacrifice  of  the  new 
moon,  &c.  On  all  these  days  labor  was  alike  pro- 
hibited. 

The  Rabbins  have  enumerated  more  than  thirty 

*  Ezekiel  xxi.  10,  11,  12. 

3 


34  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

different  acts  as  unlawful  for  the  Jews  on  the  Sab- 
bath day.  They  were  forbidden  to  sow  or  reap,  to 
kindle  a  fire  or  to  extinguish  it,  to  expose  any  thing 
for  sale,  to  write  or  scratch  out;  and  many  other 
thino-s   too  numerous  to  mention.     A  fresh  wound 

o 

was  not  to  be  bound  up  on  the  Sabbath  day ;  if  a  Jew 
fell  down  in  the  dirt,  he  was  not  to  rise  up ;  if  he  was 
overtaken  on  a  journey,  no  matter  w^here,  he  was  not 
to  stir  from  the  spot ;  if  he  fell  into  a  pit,  he  was  not 
to*  be  removed. 

The  day  was  observed  with  different  degi'ees  of 
severity  by  the  various  sects  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
and  at  different  eras.  There  is  a  story  of  one  Rabbi 
Solomon,  who  having  fallen  into  a  pit,  a  Christian 
wished  to  extricate  him,  when  he  is  said  to  have  ex- 
claimed : 

"  Out  of  this  slough  I  Tvill  not  rise, 
For  holy  Sabbath  day  I  prize." 

On  the  following  day,  being  Sunday,  he  desired  to 
be  assisted,  but  the  Christian,  in  his  turn,  replied : 

<'  'Tis  Sunday,  Solomon,  you  know, 
You  therefore,  must  remain  below." 

The  Essenes,  the  strictest  sect  of  the  Jews,  carried 
matters  so  far,  that  that  they  w^ould  not  perform  those 
common  offices  of  nature,  which  involved  any  degree 
of  labor.  See  Prideaux's  Connection,  page  348,  edi- 
tion 1718,  and  which  is  copied  from  Josephus,  vol.  ii. 
chap.  12. 


SABBATH    DAY.  85 

One  prominent  feature  was  everywhere  apparent, 
an  entire  relaxation  from  labor  ;  no  cooking  was  per- 
mitted, but  still  it  was  a  day  of  feasting,  and  not  of 
fasting;  of  joy,  and  not  of  austerity. 

The  text  says  expressly,  "Whosoever  doeth  any 
work  on  the  Sabbath  day,  he  shall  be  put  to  death." 
Now  the  Jewish  law  is  either  binding  on  Christians 
or  it  is  not.  If  it  is,  the  penalty  for  disobedience  is 
plain  and  direct ;  he  shall  smxly  be  put  to  death. 

"  While  the  children  of  Israel  were  in  the  wilder- 
ness, they  found  a  man  that  gathered  sticks  upon  the 
Sabbath  day.  And  they  that  found  him  gathering 
sticks  brought  him  unto  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  unto 
all  the  congregation.  And  they  put  him  in  ward,  be- 
cause it  was  not  declared  what  should  be  done  to  him. 
And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  The  man  shall  be 
sm^ely  put  to  death ;  all  the  congregation  shall  stone 
him  with  stones,  without  the  camp.  And  all  the  con- 
gregation brought  him  without  the  camp  and  stoned 
him  with  stones,  and  he  died ;  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses.*" 

We  have  here  the  law  and  the  penalty ;  if  the  law  is 
binding,  it  is  in  the  whole,  and  not  in  parts.  Break 
the  Sabbath,  gather  a  few  sticks,  and  thou  shalt  be 
put  to  death. 

It  would  be  a  new  thing  in  jurisprudence  for  peo- 
ple to  be  allowed  to  take  one  part  of  the  law,  that 

'■  Numbers  xv.  32-3G. 


36  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

suited  their  own  convenience,  and  reject  the  rest ;  they 
must  take  the  whole  or  none.  Yet  sectarians,  w^ho 
pretend  to  sustain  the  Sabbath  day,  say  the  law  for 
its  observance  is  binding,  yet  that  the  penalty  does 
not  attach  to  it.  I  leave  it  to  them  to  reconcile  such 
discrepancies. 

But  this  is  not  all ;  after  having  rejected  the 
penalty  w^hich  awaited  its  violation,  they  attach  to  it 
another,  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  text — that  is? 
everlasting  misery.  Retribution  in  a  life  to  come,  is 
not  one  of  the  penalties  denounced  for  a  violation  of 
the  laws  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  Jewish  policy 
was  altogether  of  a  temporal  and  outward  nature ;  the 
doctrine  of  a  future  state  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
Mosaic  code. 

Warburton,  one  of  the  most  learned  bishops  of  Eng- 
land, has  proved  this  truth,  as  he  thinks,  conclusively, 
in  a  large  work  of  several  volumes.* 

Thus  it  will  appear  that  these  zealous  sectarians 
are  moulding  the  Scriptures  relative  to  this  institu- 
tion, taking  from  it  in  one  part,  and  putting  on  in  an- 
other, to  suit  their  own  unhallowed  prejudices. 

The  Bible  also  says,  ^'Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire 
throughout  your  habitations  on  the  Sabbath  day." 
I  ask  these  sectarians,  who  are  unsparing  in  their 
denunciations  of  those  who  do  not  observe  the  Sab- 
bath as  a  holy  day  according  to  their  own  opinions, 
*  Divine  Legation  of  Moses. 


SABBATH    DAY,  3T 

whether  they  are  quietly  eating  their  meals,  drinking 
their  tea  and  coffee,  made  by  fires  kindled  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  decree  relative  to  the  Sabbath 
day? 

The  command  to  the  Jews,  contained  in  the  Deca- 
logue, to  observe  the  Sabbath  day,  related  entirely  to 
the  Jewish  Sabbath,  which  was  the  seventh  day  of 
the  week  ;  and  if  it  is  binding,  it  is  the  seventh  day 
that  should  be  kept.  To  pretend  that  that  command 
was  fixed  and  unchangeable,  and  yet  to  alter  it  to  please 
the  fancy  of  men,  is  in  itself  ridiculous.  But,  consider- 
ing that  the  precepts  contained  in  what  is  called  the 
Decalogue,  are  believed  by  many  people  to  have  an 
authority  which  does  not  belong  to  the  other  Mosaic 
laws,  and  to  be  of  perpetual  moral  obligation,  binding 
upon  Christians,  I  may  observe,  that  the  ten  com- 
mandments furnish  within  themselves  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  they  do  not  belong  to  the  Christian  code. 

The  third  commandment  is  in  these  words  :  "Thou 
shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain ; 
for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh 
his  name  in  vain."  The  simple  meaning  of  this  is, 
that  thou  shalt  not  profane  thine  oaths. 

Among  the  Jews  all  the  public  testimonies  were 
ratified  by  an  oath.  In  a  discourse  concerning  pub- 
lic oaths  and  the  lawfulness  of  swearing,  by  Doctor 
Gauden,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  there  is  the  following 
passage:  "It  is  clear,  then,  some  swearing  is  morally 

8* 


88  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

lawful,  agreeable  to  the  express  law  of  God ;  even  in 
the  third  commandment,  in  which  we  are  not  only 
forbidden  to  profane  the  name  of  God,  but  the  affirm- 
ative also  is  included,  as  sanctifying  his  name  by 
swearing,  if  in  doing  thus  upon  just  occasion,  private 
or  public,  we  sin  not  against  any  moral  law."* 
Whether  the  sentiment  is  true  or  false,  it  is  evident 
that  this  commandment  was  expressly  alluded  to  and  con- 
demned by  Christ  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount :  "  Ye 
have  heard  that  it  has  been  said  by  them  of  old  time, 
thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself,  but  shalt  perform 
unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths :  but  I  say  unto  you,  swear 
not  at  all ;  neither  by  heaven,  for  it  is  God's  throne ; 
nor  by  the  earth,  for  it  is  his  footstool. "f  ^Persons  who 
are  curious  upon  this  subject,  may  see  that  biblical 
writers  refer  to  these  two  parts  of  the  Scriptures  as 
being  connected  together.  If  the  declaration  of 
Christ  does  refer  to  it,  and  I  think  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  it,  sectarians  of  the  present  day,  in  attempt- 
ing to  make  the  ten  commandments  a  moral  law  of 
perpetual  obligation,  are  violating  one  of  the  plainest 
and  most  positive  precepts  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days 
maybe  long  in  the  land," — this  is  Judaism,  but  not 
Christianity.  Christianity  is  pursuing  virtue  for  vir- 
tue's sake.     There  is  hardly  a  Christian  of  any  refine- 

*Discourse  Concerning  Public  Oaths,  p.  21. 
t  ^fatthew  V.  33,  34. 


SABBATH    DAY.  39 

ment  of  feeling,  that  would  be  willing  to  acknowledge 
that  he  honored  his  father  and  mother  that  his  days 
might  be  long  in  the  land.  Many  generations  ago, 
there  appeared  at  Alexandria  a  woman  with  dis- 
hevelled hair,  bearing  a  pitcher  of  water  in  one  hand, 
and  a  torch  in  the  other,  making  this  exclamation : 
"  I  will  burn  up  the  heavens  with  this  torch,  and  ex- 
tinguish the  fires  of  hell  with  this  water,  that  man 
may  love  his  God  for  himself  alone."* 

Again :  ^'  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any 
graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is 
in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or 
that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth." 

Is  this  a  moral  law  of  perpetual  obligation,  bind- 
ing upon  Christians,  and  which  we  are  continually 
violating  by  making  to  ourselves  the  likenesses  of 
every  thing  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  that  is 
worthy  of  observation?  After  the  captivity,  many 
of  the  Jews  gave  to  this  a  strictly  literal  sense,  with- 
out applying  it  to  idolatrous  observances.  Mohammed, 
under  the  influence  of  Jewish  traditions,  prohibited 
sculpture  and  painting,  except  the  representation  of 
trees  and  things  without  soul.f 

Some  beets  make  images  and  bow  down  to  them, 
and  think  that  therein  they  do  God  service. 

The  same   outward  nature  of  the  Jewish  laws  is 

^  Percy  Anecdotes. 

f  See  Septenary  Institutions,  page  35. 


40  INSTITUTION    OF   TUB 

again  exemplified  in  the  declaration,   "  I,  the  Lord 
thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of 
the  fathers  upon  the   children   unto   the   third   and 
fourth  generations  of  them  that  hate  me." 
The  homely  primer  distich, 

lu  Adam's  fall 
We  sinned  all, 

has  been  repeated  a  thousand  times  in  a  thousand 
ways,  by  the  most  learned  as  well  as  the  most  igno- 
rant ;  but  whatever  men  say  to  the  contrary,  all  seem 
practically  to  reject  the  idea,  that  as  respects  the 
great  ends  of  existence  children  suffer  for  the  sins  of 
their  forefathers,  who  lived  perhaps  hundreds  of 
years  before  them.  It  may  have  a  physical  applica. 
tion,  but  it  makes  no  part  of  the  Christian  code. 

And  is  it  Christianity  to  repeat  the  idea,  *'  I,  the 
Lord  thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God?"  This  language 
suited  Moses,  but  it  does  not  so  well  apply  to  us. 

I  have  thus  far  assumed  the  ten  commandments  to 
be  literally  correct,  but  this  is  by  no  means  probable. 
About  the  period  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Hebrew 
text  was  known  to  be  greatly  corrupted.  At  the 
time  of  Origen,  in  the  third  century,  there  were  no  ten 
commandments,  but  the  quinary  division  prevailed, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Pythagoreans.  At  a  later 
period  the  Talmudic  Mishnu  commences,  and  then  the 
Gemara ;  each  of  which  proves  the  increase  of  textual 


SABBATH    DAY.  41 

errors.  This  is  also  proved  by  the  most  notable 
writings,  Saint  Jerome  and  others.* 

There  are  those  that  appear  to  believe  that  the  ten 
commandments  derive  much  authority  from  having 
been  written,  as  it  is  stated,  by  the  finger  of  God,  on 
tables  of  stone. 

In  the  peculiar  language  of  the  Hebrews,  even  the 
minute  concerns  of  making  fringes  and  ornaments, 
were,  as  it  is  said,  wrought  by  the  immediate  direction 
of  God ;  and  the  writing  on  stone  was  a  usual  affair. 
Many  of  the  ancient  temples,  which  date  as  far  back 
as  the  Jewish  period,  have  inscriptions  of  various 
kinds  still  existing  written  on  tables  of  stone ;  and  it 
has  become  one  of  the  great  arts  of  archaiological 
science  to  decipher  them ;  that  properly  considered, 
the  Sunday  observances  of  the  present  day  derive  no 
authority  from  this  source. 

Did  any  doubt  remain,  the  third  chapter  of  Second 
Corinthians,  by  the  apostle  Paul,  referring  expressly 
to  these  tables  of  stone,  calls  them  (as  they  surely 
are)  "the  ministration  of  death,"  saying  that  though 
they  were  glorious  to  the  children  of  Israel,  the  veil 
has  been  done  away  in  Christ  and  they  are  glorious 
no  longer. 

Even  these  Sabbath  laws,  so  explicit  and  absolute, 
were  rejected  by  the  Jews  themselves,  when  they  had 
occasion  therefor.  Their  enemies  took  advantage  o^ 
*  See  Types  of  Mankind,  p,  G27. 


42  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

them  and  slew  them  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  men, 
women  and  children  being  burned  in  their  caves  with- 
out resistance.  Thereupon,  Matthias  a  priest  of  the 
order  of  Joarib,  a  citizen  of  Jerusalem,  taught  them 
that  unless  thej  would  fight  on  the  Sabbath  day  all  of 
them  w^ould  perish ;  they  took  his  advice,  rejected 
their  Sabbath  laws,  fought  and  conquered.  Thus,  ac- 
cording to  the  Jews  themselves,  they  were  not  univer- 
sal laws,  but  were  laws  for  peace  and  not  for  war ;  and 
though  a  poor  man  was  to  be  stoned  to  death  for 
gathering  a  few  sticks  on  the  Sabbath  day,  the  whole 
nation  could  fight  and  conquer  when  there  was  occa- 
sion therefor.* 

There  are  immutable  truths  contained  in  the  ten 
commandments,  but  they  belong  to  those  universal 
principles  that  are  found  among  mankind  the  world 
over,  and  that  existed  before  the  Bible  was  written. 
Their  spirit  pervades  the  Old  as  well  as  the  New  Tes- 
tament— they  are  intuitive  in  their  nature — they  are 
the  foundation  of  all  order,  of  all  law^,  of  all  truth. 
Were  it  possible  to  do  them  away,  moral  society  would 
come  to  an  end.  We  believe  in  them,  not  because 
they  may  be  written  in  the  ten  commandments,  or  in 
the  New  or  the  Old  Testament,  but  because  they  carry 
their  own  evidence,  bring  conviction  to  every  bosom ; 
and  it  shows  the  degraded  nature  of  sectarianism,  that 
it  should  attempt  to  place  among  these  universal  moral 

*  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  vol.  ii.  p.  160, 


SABBATH    DAY.  43 

truths,  the  local  Mosaic  law,  to  observe  the  Sabbath 
day ;  a  law  so  partial  and  limited  in  its  natiu'e,  that 
upon  the  details  of  its  application,  the  Jews  themselves, 
for  whom  it  was  instituted,  could  not  agree.  The  laws 
of  morality  pervade  the  Koran  of  Mohamet  and  the 
Pandects  of  Justinian,  Shall  we  thence  take  these 
for  our  text  books,  and  be  bound  thereby  ? 

The  term  rejoicing,  which  so  often  occurs  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Sabbath,  is  thus  defined :  ''  Thou  shalt 
bestow  thy  money  for  whatsoever  thy  soul  lusteth  af- 
ter, for  oxen  or  for  sheep,  or  for  wine,  or  for  strong 
drink:  thou  shalt  eat  thereof  before  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  thou  shalt  rejoice,  thou  and  thy  household," 
Deuteronomy  xiv.  26. 

An  attentive  consideration  of  the  Jewish  laws  re- 
specting the  Sabbath  would  manifest  much  more  com- 
mon sense,  than  the  definition  which  sectarians  of  the 
present  day  give  to  them.  They  required  a  day  of 
rest,  and  they  obtained  it.  We  ask  for  a  day  of  rest, 
(for  mankind  is  essentially  alike  in  every  age,)  and  we 
obtain  a  day  of  ascetic  gloom  and  severity.  Among 
the  Hebrews  there  were  those,  who,  like  sectarians  of 
the  present  time,  were  disposed  to  pervert  the  day 
to  purposes  of  gloom  for  which  it  never  was 
designed,  and  instead  of  making  it  a  period  of  rejoic- 
ing, they  had  ''solemn  meetings"  and  "many  pray- 
ers;" these  are  characterized  as  an  iniquity  and  an 
abomination,  in    these    emphatic  words :    "  The  new 


44  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

moons  and  Sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assemblies,  I  can- 
not away  with ;  it  is  iniquity,  even  the  solemn  meet- 
ing." In  place  of  these,  there  is  this  beautiful  ad- 
monition :  "  Wash  you,  make  you  clean ;  put  away  the 
evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine  eyes ;  cease  to 
do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well ;  seek  judgment,  relieve  the 
oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for  the  widow," 
Isaiah  chap.  i. 

Words  could  scarcely  be  more  impressive,  or  more 
distinct,  in  opposition  to  the  pretended  sanctity  of  the 
Sabbath  day,  and  it  is  entirely  consistent  with  the 
whole  Jewish  policy,  in  making  it  a  day  of  relaxation 
and  rejoicing,  and  not  a  day  of  solemnity. 

At  one  period  the  Jewish  laws  were  entirely  lost ; 
for  the  account  of  finding  them  I  refer  to  2d  Chroni- 
cles xxxiv.  and  to  2d  Kings  xxii.,  also  to  Josephus, 
•book  10,  page  153.  It  appears  they  were  missing  for 
a  period  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Lost  is  a 
fiction  in  law,  often  used  to  change  titles  and  to  alter 
successions,  when  in  reality  there  is  no  evidence  that 
any  title  has  ever  been  had ;  and  it  seems  highly  pro- 
bable that  at  this  period,  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  the 
Pentateuch  was  promulgated  for  the  first  time.  This 
I  leave  to  the  curious. 

Historians  construe  the  word"  holy  "*  into  a  meaning 
of  solemnity,  even  of  gloom,  fasting  and  prayer.  It 
was  not  so  considered  among  the  Hebrews.    Nehcmiah 

*  Quarterly  Review,  for  October,  1850. 


SABBATH   DAY.  45 

gives  the  following  precise  instructions  how  a  day  w^as 
to  be  kept  "holy  unto  the  Lord:"  "  Go  your  way: 
eat  the  fat  and  drink  the  sweet,  and  send  portions 
unto  them  for  whom  nothing  is  prepared,  for  this  day 
is  holy  unto  our  Lord :  for  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your 
strength." 

"  And  all  the  people  went  their  way  to  eat  and  to 
drink,  and  to  send  portions,  and  to  make  great  mirth, 
because  they  had  understood  the  words  that  were  de- 
clared unto  them,"  Nehemiah  viii.  10,  12. 

Doctor  McCrie  says  of  the  ancient  Jews,  "  that  so 
far  from  converting  the  day  thus  redeemed  from  ordi- 
nary toil  into  a  day  of  ascetic  gloom,  they  devoted  it 
more  than  any  other  day  to  carnal  ease  and  festive  in- 
dulgence. The  Sabbatine  rules  enjoin  the  sons  of 
Abraham  to  prepare  for  the  feast.  The  costlier  the 
viands  and  wine  were,  the  more  honor  was  done  to  the 
Sabbath;  the  festal  cup  was  to  circulate  freely, 
marriages  were  frequently  celebrated  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  the  evening  was  occasionally  spent  in  music  and 
dancing."* 

Dean  Milman,  in  his  History  of  the  Jews,  says 
''  that  in  latter  times  the  Sabbath  became  a  day  of 
public  instruction  in  the  principles  of  law  and  of  so- 
cial equality  among  all  classes.  Rich  and  poor,  young 
and  old,  master  and  slave,  met  before  the  gate  of  the 

•*^  Memoirs  of  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  page  194. 
4 


46  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

city  and  indulged  in  innocent  mirth,  or  in  the  pleasures 
of  friendly  intercourse,  "f 

The  celebrated  scholar  Lightfoot  says,  "that  the 
Jewish  tables  were  generally  better  spread  on  the 
Sabbath  than  on  any  other  day. "J 

Among  the  various  festivals  instituted  by  Moses, 
there  was  but  one  to  which^  sorrow  was  attached ;  this 
was  the  mourning  festival  of  the  autumnal  equinox ; 
and  this  was  observed  on  a  tenth  and  not  on  a  seventh 
day. 

The  passover,  the  most  solemn  festival  of  the  Jews, 
was  a  feast  and  not  a  fast ;  a  lamb  was  to  be  roasted, 
the  whole  of  which  was  to  be  eaten  before  morning. 

From  all  these  facts  no  doubt  can  exist  that  the 
Sabbath  was  an  institution  peculiar  to  the  Jews,  and 
to  them  alone.  We  shall  proceed  to  show  that  it  has 
no  relation  to  Christians. 

I  Murray's  Family  Library, 
t  Exercitations  on  St.  Luke. 


SABBATH    DAY.  47 

CHAPTER  III. 

SABBATH  OF  THE  EARLY  CHRISTIANS. 

All  the  authority  for  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
beizms  and  ends  with  the  Old  Testament.  The  New 
Testament  does  not  sustain  the  institution,  either  as  a 
day  of  rest  or  recreation,  or  as  a  day  of  religious 
rites. 

Sectarians  have  alleged  that  authority  is  given  in 
the  New  Testament  to  change  the  day  from  the  sev- 
enth to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  hence  they  have 
designated  it  as  the  "  Christian  Sabbath,"  a  term 
which  originated  with  the  Puritans,  and  for  which 
there  is  no  authority  in  ecclesiastical  history.  The 
Sabbath  was  established  by  the  Jewish  laws ;  it  was 
expressly  directed  to  be  held  on  the  seventh  day  of 
the  week,  beginning  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth  day, 
now  called  Friday,  and  continuing  till  the  evening  of 
the  seventh  day,  when  it  ceased.  If  we  are  Jews  let 
us  then  observe  the  Sabbath  according  to  the  Jewish 
rites.  The  first  reason  that  is  given  for  the  change 
from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  is  this :  that  Christ 
met  his  disciples  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  after 
his  resurrection,  and  thus  sanctified  it.  In  consider- 
ing this  subject  it  is  needful  for  us  to  understand  the 


48  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

Jewish  computation  of  time,  "the  evening  and  the 
morning  were  the  first  day;"  and  the  express  law  of 
Moses  says,  "from  even  until  even  shall  you  celebrate 
your  Sabbaths."  There  are  many  different  modes  of 
computing  time;  we  begin  our  day  at  12  o'clock  at 
night,  nautical  men  at  12  o'clock  at  noon ;  some  na- 
tions begin  the  day  at  sunrise,  and  the  Jews  at  6  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  The  first  account  of  the  meeting  of 
Jesus  with  his  disciples  after  the  resurrection,  is  in 
John  XX.  19:  "Then  the  same  day  at  evening,  being 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  doors  were  shut 
where  the  disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the 
Jews,  came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  saith 
unto  them,  Peace  be  unto  you." 

It  is  expressly  stated  that  the  resurrection  took 
place  early  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  and  the  evening  of  that  day,  according  to  the 
Jewish  computation  of  time,  (and  we  have  no  right  to 
adopt  any  other,)  was  not  the  first  day,  but  the  second 
day  of  the  week. 

I  am  not  aware  that  it  is  of  the  slightest  consequence 
to  my  argument,  whether  this  meeting  was  on  the 
first,  second,  or  any  other  day :  but  the  texts  upon  this 
subject  have  been  so  singularly  perverted  by  Sabbata- 
rians to  prove  their  own  particular  doctrines,  that  I 
have  deemed  it  proper  to  be  thus  critical. 

Purver's  translation  of  the  Bible,  John  xx.  1,  uses 
this  language :  "Afterwards,  on  the  first  day  after  the 
Sabbath,  Mary  Magdalen  comes  in  the  morning,"  &c.; 


SABBATH    DAY.  49 

and  In  verse  19tli  it  sajs,  "■  When  it  was  therefore  the 
evening  of  that  day,  on  the  first  after  the  Sabbath, 
the  doors  being  shut,"  &c.  This  still  confirms  the 
same  point,  that  this  meeting  was  not  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week. 

The  Puritans,  upon  their  arrival  in  New  England, 
decided,  upon  solemn  debate,  that  the  Mosaic  law 
should  prevail;  and,  of  course,  that  the  evening  of 
the  first  day,  on  which  Jesus  met  the  disciples,  was  not 
a  part  of  the  Christian  Sabbath ;  and  it  is  not  gener- 
ally observed  as  such  in  New  England  at  the  present 
period. 

The  second  meeting  of  Jesus  with  his  disciples  is 
stated  to  have  been  eight  days  after  this,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  computation,  was  on  the  second 
day  of  the  week :  and  hence  it  is  not  true,  as  is  as- 
sumed, that  Jesus  met  the  disciples  again  on  the  first 
day.  The  text,  John  xx.  26,  is  explicit  on  this  subject; 
and  it  thus  clearly  appears,  that  neither  of  the  meet- 
ings of  Jesus  with  his  disciples  after  his  resurrection 
was  on  the  first  day  of  the  week ;  and  the  authority 
which  sectarians  wish  to  derive  from  this  circumstance 
for  the  peculiar  observance  of  the  first  day,  and  which 
is  the  result  of  a  forced  construction  of  Scripture,  is 
altogether  wanting.  The  learned  Doctor  Adam  Clark, 
in  his  Commentaries,  referring  to  the  26th  verse,  and 
quoting  "after  eight  days,"  says,  "It  seems  likely 
that  this  was  precisely  on  that  day  se'nnight  on  which 
Christ  had  appeared  to  them  before  ;  and  from  this  we 


50  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

may  learn,  that  this  was  the  weekly  meeting  of  the 
apostles."  Such  perversions  of  plain,  direct  language, 
are  met  with  on  almost  every  page,  wherein  Sabbata- 
rians undertake  to  show  the  necessity  of  the  observ- 
ance of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  as  a  day  of  religious 
exercises.  The  object  is  the  maintenance  of  their 
own  particular  opinions ;  if  they  speak  the  truth,  the 
Scripture  does  not  support  them.  It  is  not  alone  in 
the  writings  of  Doctor  Clark  that  this  perversion  is 
to  be  found;  Paley  and  others  adopt  the  same  view, 
pretending  that  eight  days  after  the  evening  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  is  again  the  first  day. 

There  is  still  another  passage,  (1  Corinthians  xvi. 
2,)  on  which  Sabbatarians  rely  to  make  out  their  case : 
"  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  let  every  one  of  you 
lay  by  him  in  store  as  God  has  prospered  him,  that 
there  be  no  gathering  when  I  come."  This  text, 
which  says  that  they  are  to  "lay  by  in  store  as  God 
has  prospered  them,"  has  this  meaning,  that  they  are 
to  reckon  up  their  accounts  on  the  first  day  for  the 
week  preceding,  and  is  directly  opposed  to  a  sanctifi- 
cation  of  that  day. 

If  these  texts  prove  any  thing,  it  is  the  reverse  of 
what  is  attempted  to  be  drawn  from  them.  But  there 
are  two  other  points  connected  with  the  resurrection, 
which  are  worthy  of  all  observation  from  men  who 
claim  to  adhere  to  a  strict  literal  construction  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  which  show  conclusively,  that  so  far 
from  particularly  sanctifying  the  first  day  of  the  week, 


SABBATH    DAY,  51 

Jesus  left,  in  his  conduct,  the  most  express  testimony 
against  it.  We  read  in  Luke  xxiv.  13-15,  that  upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  two  of  his  disciples  went  to 
a  village  called  Emmaus,  "  which  was  from  Jerusalem 
about  three  score  furlongs,"  *  *  *  *  that  "while 
they  communed  together  and  reasoned,  Jesus  himself 
drew  near  and  went  with* them." 

A  Sabbath  day's  journey  was  seven  furlongs  and  a 
half.*  It  thus  appears  that  the  journey  was  about 
eight  times  the  distance  of  what  was  allowed  by  the 
Jewish  laws,  or  nearly  eight  English  miles.  This  dis- 
tance is  also  sustained  by  Josephus,t  and  it  was  travel- 
led directly  from  Jerusalem,  where  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  meet  his  disciples.  Even  Bethany,  where  it 
is  said  he  led  his  disciples  out,  and  lifted  up  his  hands 
and  blessed  them,  was  fifteen  furlongs,  or  two  Sabbath 
day's  journeys  from  Jerusalem. J 

I  am  aware  that  there  is  little  probability  that  those 
whose  opinions  are  already  formed  will  be  willing 
candidly  to  examine  the  foregoing  texts  with  a  steady 
eye  to  truth ;  but  I  may  ask  reasonable  men  to  judge 
for  themselves,  and  the  result  will  be,  that  there  is  no 
authority  for  the  substitution  of  the  first  day  of  the 
week  in  place  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath;  and  I  shall 
show  hereafter  that  there  is  no  authority  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  that  as  a  holy  da.j. 

John  the  Divine  speaks   of  being  in  the  spirit  on 

*  Clark's  Notes  on  the  Scriptures,  Acts  i.  12. 

f  See  War,  book  vii.  section  G.         %  Clark's  Commentaries. 


52  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

the  Lord's  day ;  and  hence  in  the  limited  views  that 
are  taken  of  it,  and  to  establish  particular  sectarian 
notions,  it  is  pretended  that  the  visions  that  he  had  at 
the  isle  of  Patmos  were  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
and  that  this  is  a  proof  of  the  sanctification  of  the 
day.  If  that  day  were  called  in  Scripture  the  Lord's 
day,  there  might  be  some  reason  in  the  application ; 
but  it  is  not  called  so  in  any  part  of  the  Bible.  It  is 
much  more  natural  to  suppose  that  it  is  so  spoken  of 
as  a  particular  period  of  illumination  of  mind,  than 
as  having  relation  to  any  particular  day.  The  word 
day  is  used  in  many  parts  of  the  Scriptures  without 
application  to  any  precise  period — thus  :  "'  To-day,  if 
ye  will  hear  his  voice,"  &c.-—"  Abraham  desired  to 
see  my  day,"  &c.  The  word  day  in  these  instances 
has  no  relation  to  any  particular  period  of  time ;  and 
it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  all  the  visions  of 
John  the  Divine,  as  recorded  in  the  book  of  Revela- 
tions, were  seen  on  the  first  day  of  the  week ;  it  is 
much  more  likely  that  they  embraced  many  days,  per- 
haps weeks  and  months. 

It  is  even  doubtful  whether  the  term  "  Lord's  day  " 
did  not  arise  from  the  customary  heathen  addresses  to 
the  sun,  "god  of  day." 

Higgins,  in  his  "  Horae  Sabbaticse,"  states  that 
"every  one  of  the  ancient  nations  called  the  sun 
Lord  or  Master;"  using  the  word  "Dominus,"  or  its 
equivalent  term. 

Even  the  authenticity  of  the  Revelations  themselves 


SABBATH    DAY.  53 

has  been  a  matter  of  great  dispute  among  the  learned. 
Many  of  the  ancient  churches  did  not  receive  it.  It 
is  not  among  the  canonical  books  referred  to  at  the 
council  of  Laodicea.  Luther  rejected  it,  and  there 
have  been  long  continued  disputes,  not  only  as  to  the 
time,  but  respecting  the  author  by  whom  it  was  Avrit- 
ten.  It  shows  most  conclusively  the  feebleness  of  the 
Sabbatarian  cause,  that  it  should  rest  its  authority 
for  the  change  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  upon 
such  evidence.  It  is  in  truth  no  evidence !  The 
New  Testament  furnishes  none,  and  it  is  for  this  rea- 
son that  these  feeble  texts  are  resorted  to.* 

There  are  six  texts  on  which  the  Sabbatarians  rely 
to  prove  the  divine  institution  of  Sunday.  They  are 
John  XX.  19 ;  John  xx.  26 ;  Acts  ii.  1 ;  Acts  xx.  6,  7 ; 
1  Corinthians  xvi.  1,  2,  and  Revelations  i.  10.  Those 
who  are  curious  may  read  them  for  themselves ;  it  is 
sufficient  for  me  to  say  that  the  Sabbath  is  not  men- 
tioned in  any  one  of  them,  neither  is  there  even  a 
remote  reference  to  it  as  an  institution  that  was  to  be 
observed  by  Christians. 

The  whole  of  the  New  Testament  teems  with  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  the  opinions  that  I  have  ex- 
pressed. I  could  appeal  to  sectarians  to  establish 
this,  but  that  they  may  be  said  not  to  believe  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  they  would  not  be  willing  to  submit 

*  See  Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  Historj,  also  Ency.  Brit.,  article 
Apocalypse. 


54  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

the  subject  to  the  candid  observation  of  disinterested 
men.  A  belief  in  the  Scriptures  would  be,  in  their 
plain  obvious  doctrine,  in  giving  to  each  word  and 
sentence  the  explanation  which  was  consistent  with 
the  rules  of  grammar  and  common  sense,  without  pre- 
varication or  deception  of  any  kind,  and  without  any 
reference  to  the  truth  or  falsehood  which  might  be 
supposed  to  be  involved  in  it.  Such  a  belief  in  the 
Scriptures  would  not  suit  sectarians ;  it  would  often 
prove  too  much  or  too  little  for  them ;  it  would  at 
once  put  an  end  to  Sabbath  conventions.  The  views 
they  promulgate  cannot  be  sustained  upon  any  other 
principle  than  a  disbelief  in  the  doctrines  of  the  New 
Testament.  Every  respect  is  due  to  the  opinions  of 
men  of  truth  and  candor,  however  much  they  may  be 
at  variance  with  their  own ;  but  those  of  the  Sabbata- 
rians are  entitled  to  the  less  respect,  because  they 
seem  unwilling  to  listen  to  the  truth  upon  the  sub- 
ject. They  have  often  been  refuted,  but  still  they 
repeat  their  assertions,  sustaining  them  by  perver- 
sions of  texts.  Men  of  deep,  abiding  prejudices  can- 
not believe  the  truth,  however  plainly  it  may  be 
brought  before  them ;  and  it  seems  a  hopeless  task  to 
make  any  appeal  to  them.  They  reply  not  by  argu- 
ment, but  by  opinion  and  denunciation. 

To  others  I  may  say,  and  I  wish  them  to  examine 
the  subject  carefully  for  themselves,  that  there  is  not 
one  verse  or  text  contained  in  the  whole  canon  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  recommends  or  inculcates  the 


SABBATH    DAY.  55 

observance  of  the  first  day  of  tlie  week,  or  any  other 
day,  as  one  of  peculiar  holiness,  or  as  a  day  to  be  de- 
voted to  religious  exercises.  There  is  not  one  word 
said  against  Sabbath-breakers,  nor  a  single  text 
that  gives  the  slightest  idea  that  it  was  deemed  un- 
lawful by  Christ,  or  his  immediate  followers,  to  do 
any  work  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  that  was  pro- 
per to  be  performed  on  any  other  day.  There  are 
some  of  the  Jewish  laws  expressly  revived  by  the 
apostle  Paul : — that  we  shall  abstain  from  blood,  and 
from  things  strangled,  &c.  See  Acts  xxi.  25,  and 
XV.  28.  But  among  these,  the  laws  relative  to  the 
Sabbath  day  are  entirely  omitted.  It  is  singular 
enough  that  sectarians  should  pay  no  attention  to  this 
positive  prohibition  of  the  apostle ;  that  they  should 
eat  blood  and  thinofs  strano;led  whenever  it  suits  them 
to  do  so ;  that  they  should  reject  what  has  been  re- 
vived by  the  apostle,  and  revive  what  has  been  ex- 
pressly rejected  by  him.  See  2  Colossians  16,  17. 
"Let  no  man  judge  you  in  respect  of  the  Sabbath 
day."  It  proves  what  I  have  adverted  to  above,  that 
sectarians  do  not  believe  in  the  Scriptures. 

I  shall  quote  some  of  the  texts  upon  this  subject ; 
but  I  may  here  remark,  that  the  total  omission  to  in- 
culcate the  observance  of  any  particular  day,  is  in 
itself  proof  against  it.  There  are  abundant  instances 
in  which  the  observance  of  the  moral  law  was  incul- 
cated both  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  but  that  one 
thing,  upon  which  so  much  stress  is  now  laid,  is  en- 
tirely omitted. 


56  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

Upon  all  suitable  occasions,  Jesus  opposed  the 
superstitions  of  the  Jews  respecting  the  Sabbath  day. 
In  treating  upon  the  subject  we  must  steadily  bear  in 
mind  the  great  importance  attached  to  the  Sabbath  in 
the  Jewish  policy.  And  no  reasonable  doubt  can  ex- 
ist, that  if  he  had  considered  the  day  one  of  holiness 
and  importance,  some  occasion  would  have  presented 
itself,  wherein  his  feelings  might  have  been  mani- 
fested. None  such  occurred,  and  it  is  a  natural  pre- 
sumption that  none  such  was  required. 

It  is  contended  by  Sabbatarians,  that  Jesus  "re- 
ligiously observed  the  Sabbath  day;"*  they  make  as- 
sertions which  they  are  unable  to  prove.  He  not 
only  did  not  sanction  the  observance  of  the  day,  but 
his  doctrine,  his  precepts,  his  example,  show  directly 
the  reverse.  Let  the  texts  be  carefully  examined, 
that  the  truth  may  prevail. 

He  travelled,  as  I  have  before  stated,  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week ;  thus  giving,  by  his  conduct,  after 
his  resurrection,  direct  evidence  that  he  did  not  re- 
gard what  is  now  called  the  Christian  Sabbath.  He 
also  travelled  on  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ;t  it  might  have 
been  what  was  called  a  Sabbath  day's  journey,  which 
was  permitted  to  the  Jews,  though  it  does  not  appear, 
so  by  the  text. 

I  ask  these   sectarians  how  it  is,  that,   with  the 

*  See  proceedings  of  the  Ilarrisburg  Sabbath  Convention, 
f  Mark  ii.  23, 


SABBATH    DAY.  57 

New  Testament  in  their  hand,  and  taking  that  for 
their  guide,  they  can  condemn  people  for  doing  just 
what  Jesus  did  ? 

He  visited  on  the  Sabbath.  I  have  examined  seve- 
ral translations  relative  to  the  account  of  this,  re- 
corded in  Luke  xiv.  1.  The  venerable  Charles  Thorn- 
son,  secretary  to  the  Continental  Congress,  told  the 
author  of  these  pages,  that  he  had  written  every  line 
in  the  Bible,  from  Genesis  to  Revelations,  five  differ- 
ent times  with  his  own  hands,  in  order  to  make  his 
translation  perfect.  He  takes  a  broader  ground  than 
any  of  the  rest,  and  uses  these  words,  "  Observing 
how  eager  the  guests  were  for  the  first  places  at  the 
table,  he  addressed  them,"  &c.  In  verse  12,  his 
translation  says,  "  Then  he  said  to  him  who  had  in_ 
vited  him,"  &c. :  one  translation  says,  "  He  went  to 
eat  bread;"  another,  "to  eat  victuals ;"  another,  sim- 
ply "to  eat."  The  distinctions  are  not  material,  but 
the  text  altogether  shows  this,  that  Jesus  was  invited 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  to  a  feast  at  the  house  of  one  of 
the  chief  Pharisees ;  that  the  company  was  so  large 
that  different  rooms  were  opened,  and  that  there  was 
what  would  be  called  in  this  country  a  rush  to  get 
seats  at  the  table.  As  there  is  not  the  slightest  in- 
timation, that  the  invitation  of  this  company  on  the 
Sabbath  day  was  improper  in  any  way,  it  is  sufficient, 
in  connection  with  other  things  of  the  same  character, 

5 


58  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

to  show  how  little  dependence  is  to  be  placed  upon  the 
statements  of  these  Sabbatarians. 

I  have  before  me  one  of  their  publications,  which 
says,  "Visiting  and  travelling  are  enormous  profa- 
nations of  this  holy  day."  I  have  stated  that  Jesus 
visited,  and  that  Jesus  travelled ;  they  cannot  contro- 
vert it ;  and  if  their  position  is  true,  it  is  Jesus  Christ, — 
and  I  record  with  great  sorrow,  such  an  instance  of 
degraded  sectarianism  proceeding  from  a  respectable 
Sabbath  convention, — ^I  say  if  their  position  is  true,  it 
is  Jesus  Christ  who  has  set  the  example  of  profaning 
the  day. 

The  Jewish  law  says,  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves 
and  bear  no  burden  on  the  Sabbath  day;*  yet  in 
direct  contradiction  of  this,  the  man  who  was  healed 
was  directed  by  Jesus  to  take  up  his  bed  and  walk 
on  the  Sabbath  day ;  and  it  is  stated  that  the  Jews 
sought  to  kill  him,  because  he  had  thus  broken  the 
Sabbath.  There  are  other  instances  of  the  same 
character,  all  directly  opposed  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Sabbatarians. 

Besides  these  negative  proofs,  there  are  a  variety 
of  positive  texts  in  the  New  Testament,  which  seem 
to  forbid,  not  only  the  observance  of  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath, but  which  cover  the  whole  ground,  and  object  to 
the  observance  of  any  one  day  as  a  day  of  peculiar 
holiness.  It  would  take  many  pages  to  recount  them 
all ;  I  quote  some  of  the  most  material. 

*  Jeremiah  xvii.  21,  22. 


SABBATH    DAY.  59 

^'But  now  after  ye  have  known  God,  or  rather 
are  known  of  God,  how  turn  ye  again  to  the  weak 
and  beggarly  elements,  whereunto  ye  desire  again 
to  be  in  bondage  ?  Ye  observe  days  and  months,  and 
times,  and  years.  I  am  afraid  of  you  lest  I  have 
bestowed  upon  you  labor  in  vain."*  Again:  "Let 
no  man  therefore  judge  you  in  meat  or  in  drink,  or 
in  respect  of  an  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of 
the  Sabbath  days,  which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to 
come."t 

As  to  the  words,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for 
man,"  which  seems  to  be  a  very  favorite  quotation, 
for  the  want  of  any  thing  better,  if  Sabbatarians 
would  not  garble  the  whole  context,  it  would  show 
that  it  was  part  of  an  absolute  reproof  to  the  Jews 
for  their  superstitious  regard  to  the  day. 

I  subjoin  the  w^hole  of  it,  that  there  may  be  no  mis- 
take. 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  that  he  w^ent  through  the 
cornfields  on  the  Sabbath  day ;  and  his  disciples 
began,  as  they  went,  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn.  And 
the  Pharisees  said  unto  him.  Behold,  why  do  they  on 
the  Sabbath  day  that  which  is  not  lawful  ?  And  he 
said  unto  them.  Have  ye  never  read  what  David  did, 
when  he  had  need,  and  was  an  hungered,  he  and  they 
that  were  with  him  ?  How  he  went  into  the  house 
of  God,  in  the  days  of  Abiathar  the  high  priest,  and 
did  eat  the  show  bread,  which  is  not  lawful  to  eat,  but 

^  Galatians  iv.  9-11,  f  CoL  ii.  IG,  17. 


60  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

for  the  priests,  and  gave  also  to  them  which  were  ^Yith. 
him  ?  And  he  said  unto  them,  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."* 

I  add  also  the  following  from  John,  to  which  I 
have  before  alluded :  when  Jesus  had  directed  the 
man  whom  he  had  cured  to  take  up  his  bed  and  walk, 
the  Jews  said  unto  him,  "It  is  the  Sabbath  day,  it 
is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  carry  thy  bed."  "And 
therefore  did  the  Jews  persecute  Jesus,  and  sought 
to  slay  him,  because  he  had  done  these  things  on 
the  Sabbath  day.  But  Jesus  answered  them:  My 
father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work.  Therefore 
the  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill  him,  because  he  not 
only  had  broken  the  Sabbath,  but  said  also  that  God 
was  his  father,  making  himself  equal  with  God."t 

I  have  given  all  the  evidence  that  I  find  in  the  New 
Testament  upon  the  subject.  It  will  be  seen  that  not 
even  as  a  day  of  rest  was  the  Sabbath  observed ;  or 
the  Jewish  laws  respecting  it  sustained  by  the  early 
Christians. 

Without  any  of  these  testimonies,  it  might  be  be- 
lieved, a  2)rio7i\  from  the  natm'e  of  the  doctrine  pro- 
mulgated by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  that  keeping 
one  day  more  holy  than  the  rest  was  incompatible 
with  the  precepts  they  taught.  Their  views  were  of 
a  much  holier  and  more  enlarged  character.  It  was 
not  to  days,  or  times,  or  ceremonies,  that  they  di- 
rected their  followers,  but  to  truth,  which  existed  in- 
*Mark  ii.  23-27.  f  John  y,  10,  16-18. 


SABBATH    DAY.  61 

dependent  of  them.  And  there  is  evidence,  that  no 
Jewish  Sabbath,  no  Christian  Sabbath,  or  Lord's  day, 
was  observed  with  peculiar  holiness  by  the  early 
Christians. 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  New  Testament  inculcates 
this  idea — not  that  the  Sabbath  was  to  be  broken 
down  in  the  spirit  of  licentiousness  or  irreligion, 
but  that  every  day  should  be  elevated,  so  as  to  be 
equal  to  it  in  holiness.  Such  is  the  language  of 
the  New  Testament,  such  the  voice  of  nature  and 
of  truth. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SUNDAY   OF   CONSTANTINE. 

After  the  lapse  of  so  many  centui'ies,  the  exact 
usages  of  the  early  Christians  may  not  be  distinctly 
known,  but  one  thing  is  evident,  that  there  was  no 
particular  sacredness  attached  to  any  one  day.  The 
following  fact  seems  conclusive  respecting  the  opin- 
ions of  the  apostles  on  this  subject. 

The  first  ecclesiastical  council  that  was  held  after 
the  Christian  era  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  in  ref- 
erence to  which  of  the  laws  of  Moses  should  be  bind- 
ing upon  Christians,  rejected  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  day ;  the  Apostle  Paul,  writing  to  the  Gen- 

5* 


Ij2  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

tile  converts,  says,  "  For  it  seemed  good  to  tlie  Holy 
Ghost  and  to  us,  to  lay  upon  you  no  greater  burden 
than  these  necessary  things.*" 

There  is  one  remarkable  circumstance  relative  to 
their  public  assemblies.  If  not  altogether,  they  were 
to  a  great  extent,  held  in  the  evenings,  or  before  day- 
light. In  the  account  of  the  first  meeting  of  Jesus 
•with  his  disciples,  after  his  resurrection,  it  is  men- 
tioned that  it  was  "at  evening;"  it  is  added,  "the 
doors  being  shut  for  fear  of  the  Jews."  So  in  the 
letter  from  Pliny,  to  which  I  shall  advert,  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Christians  are  said  to  have  been  before 
daylight.  Tertullian  often  mentions  the  nightly  meet- 
ings of  the  Christians.  There  are  other  repeated  no- 
tices of  the  same  thing.  Some  of  these  meetings 
might  have  been  the  result  of  a  fear  of  persecution ; 
but  the  constant  practice,  in  so  many  countries,  to- 
gether with  the  knowledge .  that  the  converts  were 
persons  almost  entirely  among  the  laboring  classes  of 
the  community — men  who  contributed  to  their  neces- 
sities by  the  labor  of  their  own  hands — leads  to  the 
conclusion,  that,  during  the  daytime,  they  were  work- 
ing at  their  usual  employments.  This  is  confirmed 
by  Justin  Martyr,  when  he  reproaches  the  Jew  for 
spending  the  Sabbath  in  idleness,  and  by  the  Jew  who 
says,  that  the  Chi'istians  keep  no  Sabbath,  to  which 
also  I  shall  refer  hereafter. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  early  Christians  held  re- 

*  Acts  XV.  28. 


SABBATH    DAY.  03 

ligious  meetings.  A  letter  from  Pliny  to  Trajan,  con- 
tained in  Book  X.,  Letter  97,  says,  that  ''the  Chris- 
tians whom  he  had  examined,  declared  that  they  had 
made  it  a  practice,  on  a  stated  day,  to  meet  together 
before  daylight  to  sing  hymns  with  responses  to 
Christ  as  a  God,  and  to  bind  themselves  by  a  solemn 
institution  not  to  do  any  wrong  act."  This  letter, 
which  bears  the  marks  of  authenticity,  has  been  pro- 
nounced a  forgery  by  Dr.  Semler,  of  Leipsig,  and 
other  learned  German  critics.  Admitting  it  to  be 
true,  it  proves  nothing ;  it  does  not  speak  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  and  alludes  only  to  the  Christians  in 
Bithynia. 

The  works  of  Justin  Martyr  are  still  more  explicit, 
though  written  at  a  later  period.  He  says,  that 
''  they  met  together  on  Sunday ;  that  the  memoirs  of 
the  apostles  and  writings  of  the  prophets,  are  read  as 
long  as  circumstances  will  admit;"  and  it  is  otherwise 
mentioned  that  the  poor  were  provided  for,  and  that 
there  were  regular  feasts  of  charity — ''  sober  repasts." 
There  is  incontestable  evidence,  that  worship  was 
celebrated  in  a  different  manner  in  different  countries, 
that  the  early  Christians  not  only  assembled  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  but  also  on  the  fourth,  sixth 
and  seventh  days.* 

In  some  parts,  especially  in  the  eastern  countries, 
Saturday  was  appointed  for  religious  meetings,  not, 
as  it  is  stated,  because  they  were  infected  with  Juda- 

*  Mosheim,  1st  vol. 


04  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

ism,  but  to  worship  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  is  ex- 
pressly affirmed  by  Athanasius  and  others.* 

The  proof  that  any  peculiar  sacredness  was  at- 
tached to  any  particluar  day,  is  altogether  wanting. 
On  the  contrary,  it  will  be  shown  hereafter,  that  no 
distinction  between  days  was  made  by  the  early 
Christians,  until  the  chui'ch  became  corrupt. 

Many  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  church,  a  consider- 
able proportion  of  which  have  come  down  to  us,  had 
their  origin  in  the  superstitions  of  the  Pagans  and  the 
Jews.  Mosheim,  speaking  of  the  first  century,  says, 
that  the  Christian  religion  was  peculiarly  commenda- 
ble on  account  of  its  beautiful  and  divine  simplicity ; 
and  that  many  of  the  external  rites  were  adopted, 
that  they  might  captivate  the  senses  of  the  vulgar, 
and  refute  the  reproaches  which  had  been  cast  upon 
the  Christians,  by  the  Pagan  priests,  on  account  of 
the  simplicity  of  the  worship  ;  and  because  they  had 
no  temples,  altars,  victims,  priests,  "  nor  any  thing 
of  that  external  pomp,  in  which  the  vulgar  are  so 
prone  to  place  the  essence  of  religion." 

The  works  of  Justin  Martyr  are  the  first  of  an  ec- 
clesiastical character,  on  which  implicit  reliance  is 
placed  by  all.  Accomplished  in  the  learning  of  his 
age,  his  life  and  his  death  were  marked  by  sincerity 
in  the  cause  of  truth. 

There  is  preserved  in  his  works  a  dialogue  between 

*  See  Cave's  Primitive  Christianity. 


SABBATH    DAY.  65 

himself  and  Tryplio,  a  learned  Jew,  in  wliicli  the 
Jew  objects  to  the  Christians,  that  they  did  not  ob- 
serve the  Sabbath  day.  The  Jew  says  to  Justin, 
"The  Christians,  though  they  boasted  of  the  truth 
of  their  religion,  and  wished  to  excel  all  other  people, 
differed  in  nothing  from  the  heathen  in  their  manner 
of  living,  because  they  neither  observed  the  festivals, 
nor  the  Sabbath,  nor  circumcision."  To  which  Justin 
replies,  "  There  is  another  kind  of  circumcision,  and 
you  think  highly  of  that  of  the  flesh.  The  law  will 
have  you  keep  a  perpetual  Sabbath,  and  you,  when 
you  have  spent  one  day  in  idleness,  think  you  are  re- 
ligious, not  knowing  why  it  is  commanded. 

"As,  therefore,  circumcision  began  from  Abraham, 
and  Sabbath,  and  sacrifice,  and  oblation,  from  Moses, 
which  it  has  been  shown  were  ordained  on  account  of 
your  nation's  hardness  of  heart,  so,  according  to  the 
counsel  of  the  fathers,  they  were  to  end  in  Jesus 
Christ  the  Son  of  God." 

"Do  you  not  see,"  he  says  to  Trypho,  "that  the 
elements  are  never  idle,  nor  keep  a  Sabbath  ?  Con- 
tinue as  you  were  created,  for  if  there  was  no  need  of 
circumcision  before  Abraham,  nor  of  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  festivals-,  and  oblations  before 
Moses,  neither  now  is  there  likewise  after  Christ."* 

Again :   "  If  any  among  you  is  guilty  of  perjury, 

*  I  have  copied  the  above  from  a  work  called  "  Sunday  Po- 
lice."    The  translation  has  been  compared,  and  found  correct. 


G6  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

or  fraud,  let  him  cease  from  these  crimes ;  if  he  is  an 
adulterer,  let  him  repent,  and  he  will  have  kept  the 
kind  of  Sabbath  pleasing  to  God." 

In  his  dialogue,  page  241,  Paris  edition,  Justin 
says,  "A  greater  mystery  was  annexed  by  God  to 
the  eighth  than  the  seventh  day."  This  mystery  he 
afterwards  states  to  be  the  command  to  circumcise 
on  the  eighth  day,  which  was  a  type  of  the  true  cir- 
cumcision from  error  and  wickedness;"  and  for 
several  other  reasons  which  may  therein  be  referred 
to.  Justin  Martyr  was  supposed  to  have  written 
within  fifty  years  of  the  death  of  some  of  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  his  evidence  may  be  con- 
sidered to  be  conclusive,  that  no  one  day  was  considered 
more  holy  than  another  by  the  early  Christians. 

The  first  decree  for  the  observance  of  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  called  Sunday,  was  the  result  of  that 
corrupt  union  between  church  and  state,  which  has  so 
often  been  productive  of  the  most  injurious  efi'ects  to 
the  cause  of  vital  religion. 

It  was  promulgated  by  Constantino  the  Great.  I 
extract  it  entire,  as  it  is  extant  in  the  Corpus  Juris 
Civilis,  under  the  head  of  De  Feriis.    Lib.  iii..  Tit.  12. 

In  the  Life  of  Constantino,  by  Eusebius,  it  is  called 
"The  Salutary  Day;"  and  as  a  matter  of  course, 
Eusebius,  who  was  bishop  of  Csesarea  in  Palestine, 
gives  the  Emperor  great  praise  for  the  enactment  of 
the  law.     It  is  as  follows ; 


SABBATH    DAY.  67 

3.  Imp.  Constant. 

Omnes  judices,  urbanaeque  plebes,  et  cunctarum 
artium  officia  venerabili  die  solis  quiescant.  Ruri 
tamen  positi  agrorum  culturse  libere  licenterque  in- 
serviant:  quoniam  frequenter  evenit,  ut  non  aptius 
alio  dio  frumenta  sulcis,  aut  vinese  scrobibus  man- 
dentur,  ne  occasione  momenti  pereat  commoditas 
coelesti  provisione  concessa.  Dat.  Nonis  Mart.  Crispo 
2,  &  Constantino  2.     Coss.  321. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  law  only  speaks  of 
Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest,  and  that  it  applies  only  to 
judges,  town-people  and  tradesmen.  I  subjoin  the 
literal  translation. 

"  Let  all  the  judges  and  town-people,  and  the  oc- 
cupations of  all  trades,  rest  on  the  venerable  day  of 
the  sun ;  but  let  those  who  are  situated  in  the  coun- 
try, freely  and  at  full  liberty  attend  to  the  business 
of  agriculture ;  because  it  often  happens  that  no 
other  day  is  so  fit  for  sowing  corn  and  planting  vines, 
lest  the  critical  moment  being  let  slip,  men  should 
lose  the  commodities  granted  by  the  providence  of 
Heaven." 

The  character  of  Constantine  is  well  known.  He 
was  the  second  Roman  Emperor*  that  embraced  the 

■5^  Constantine  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  being  the  first  Chris- 
tian Emperor.  Philip,  who  was  crowned  in  the  year  246,  was 
the  first,  (Eusebius,  edition  1607,  page  3  ;  also,  chronology  in 
the  same  work.( 


68  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

Christian  faith;  he  presided  at  the  council  of  Nice, 
that  council  of  bishops  which  undertook  to  decide 
which  part  of  the  New  Testament  should  be  con- 
sidered canonical,  and  which  rejected.  He  was,  in 
some  respects,  a  great  man ;  but  his  domestic  life  is 
marked  by  such  atrocities,  as  would  seem  to  render 
him  unfit  to  be  a  judge  in  any  matter  pertaining  to 
religion.  The  voices  of  sycophants  have  sung  his 
praises,  because  he  embraced  the  Christian  religion. 
Yet  this  man,  in  the  very  year  that  he  presided  at 
the  council  of  Nice,  murdered  the  husbands  of  his 
sisters,  Constantia  and  Anastasia.  He  murdered  his 
sister's  son,  a  boy  only  twelve  years  of  age,  under 
the  most  frivolous  pretext.*  In  the  year  that  he 
issued  his  decree  for  the  observance  of  the  Sunday, 
he  murdered  his  familiar  friend,  Sopater;  and  the 
year  before,  destroyed  his  wife,  Fausta,  by  putting 
her  in  a  bath  of  boiling  water.  These,  though  not 
all  the  atrocities  he  perpetrated  in  his  own  imme- 
diate family,  are  sufficient  to  show  the  character  of 
the  man ;  and  sectarians  may  have  all  the  benefit 
they  can  derive  from  the  knowledge  that  it  was  this 
man,  stained  with  the  blood  of  his  own  domestic  cir- 
cle, that  issued  the  first  decree  in  a  Christian  country, 
for  making  any  distinction  between  Sunday  and  any 
other  day  in  the  week. 

The  sun  in  the  heavens  was  the  apotheosis  of  Con- 
*  Taylor's  Diojcsis. 


SABBATH   DAY.  69 

stantine ;  hence,  naturally  came  the  transfer  of  holi- 
ness to  a  day  which  should  bear  the  name  of  Sunday. 
It  is  this  decree,  and  not  the  New  Testament,  which 
forms  the  basis  of  the  "Sunday  Sabbath,"  or  the 
"  Christian  Sabbath,"  as  sectarians  call  it.  It  should 
be  called  "The  Sunday  of  Constantino."  This  de- 
cree of  Constantino  was  not  effectual  in  closing  the 
courts ;  other  laws  of  like  character  were  passed  by 
Theodosius  and  others,  and  finally,  in  the  year  456, 
the  Emperor  Leo  directed  that  the  spectacle  of  wild 
beasts  at  the  theatre  should  be  closed  on  Sunday. 
The  decree  is  in  these  words :  "  Not  to  infringe 
the  rest  of  that  holy  day,  we  do  not  suffer  any  one  to 
indulge  in  obscene  pleasures.  Let  this  day  witness 
no  theatrical  representations ;  no  combats  of  the  cir- 
cus;  no  doleful  exhibitions  of  wild  beasts."* 

Sylvester,  who  was  Bishop  of  Rome  whilst  Con- 
stantino was  Emperor,  in  order,  as  it  is  stated,  to  give 
more  solemnity  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  changed 
its  name  from  Sunday,  which  Constantino  had  given 
it,  to  the  more  imposing  one  of  "the  Lord's  day." 
See  Lucius'  Eccl.  Hist.  Cent.  4,  p.  740.  Bamp. 
Eng.  p.  98. 

As  the  church  became  ceremonial,  symbols  of  re- 
ligion and  festivals  were  appointed.  They  com- 
menced at  an  earlier  era  than  the  reign  of  Constan- 
tino ;  but  it  was  then  for  the  first  time  that  the  State 

*  Col.  L.  3,  Tit.  12. 
6 


70  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

became  a  party  in  them,  and  lent  its  power  to  make 
the  Christian  religion  one  of  splendor  and  consequence 
in  the  world,  so  as  to  captivate  the  Pagans  who  had 
been  used  to  the  imposing  forms  of  heathen  worship. 

Christmas  had  been  appointed  a  festival  to  com- 
memorate the  nativity  of  Christ ;  Easter,*  as  an 
annual  mark  of  his  resurrection ;  Whitsunday,  and 
others  of  like  character,  for  particular  periods.  Among 
these,  was  the  first  day  of  the  week.  Fasting  had 
been  introduced  as  a  penance  ;  but  this  was  so  di- 
rectly in  opposition  to  a  day  of  rejoicing,  that  a 
variety  of  church  edicts  were  passed,  prohibiting  fast- 
ing on  that  day.  But  even  in  this  thing,  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  no  particular  sanctity  attached  to 
the  day.  I  have  said  before,  that  meetings  for  wor- 
ship were  held  on  different  days  in  different  countries, 
and  the  same  practice  prevailed  when  a  weekly  festival 
was  more  distinctly  established. 

Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  who  lived  but  a  few 
years  after  the  edict  of  Constantino  was  issued, 
when  he  was  consulted  upon  the  subject  of  there 
being  no  uniformity  of  days,  advised  that  people 
should  be  governed  by  the  usages  of  countries  where 
they  were.f     But  whether  the  festival  was  held  on 

*  I  am  aware  that  the  term  Easter  occurs  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  considered  an  interpolation,  and  that  it  derives  its 
name  from  the  goddess  Eostre,  worshipped  by  the  Saxons. 

I  Cave's  ''Primitive  Christianity,"  chap.  vii.  page  114. 


SABBATH    DAY.  71 

Saturday  or  Sunday,  fasting  was  positively  pro- 
hibited. The  Motanists,  a  sect  who  arose  in  the 
second  century,  were  remarkable  for  the  greatest 
severity  in  their  lives  and  doctrines.  They  had 
many  absurd  tenets,  among  which  were  laws  of  great 
strictness  for  fasting,  but  they  excepted  the  first  day 
of  the  week  out  of  their  austerities.* 

The  first  man  that  was  executed  in  the  Christian 
era,  by  the  secular  power,  for  heresy,  was  Priscil- 
lianus.  It  was  done  at  the  instance  of  some  of  the 
bishops.  One  of  the  charges  against  him  was,  that 
he  kept  the  Lord's  day  by  fasting.  A  council  of  the 
church  was  assembled  on  the  fourth  of  October,  381, 
in  reference  thereto,  which  expressly  anathematized 
all  such  as  fasted  on  that  day,  whether  by  mispersua- 
sion  or  superstition. 

In  the  epistles  of  Ignatius  to  the  Philippians,  it  is 
stated,  "  that  he  is  a  killer  of  Christ  who  fasts  on 
the  Lord's  day,  or  on  Saturday  ;"t  and  there  is  a 
variety  of  evidence  to  show  that  the  Sunday  was 
considered  to  be  a  day  of  relaxation,  of  joy,  and  re- 
joicing, rather  than  of  gloom.  The  Pharisaical 
doctrine,  which  is  now  so  prevalent,  of  keeping  that 
day  with  strictness,  was,  among  the  Christians  of  this 
early  period,  counted  to  be  a  great  wickedness. 
Eustathius  renewed  the   practice  of  keeping  it  as  a 

*  Eusebius,  Mosheim  and  Ilowell's  Ecclesiastical  Histories, 
f  IlowoH's  Ecclesiastical  History,  folio,  vol.  iv. 


72  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

fast  day,  and  it  was  again  condemned  by  a  provincial 
synod,  held  at  Gangra,  in  Paphlagonia,  wMcli  de- 
creed, that  ''if  any,  upon  pretence  of  abstinence, 
fasted  on  the  Lord's  day,  he  should  be  anathema." 

One  of  the  canons  of  the  council  of  Nice  decreed, 
that  praying  by  kneeling  should  be  especially  inter- 
dicted on  the  day  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  because  it  indicated  fear  and  sorrow, 
on  a  day  in  which  the  whole  church  exults  and  re- 
joices."* 

In  the  fifth  century,  Mosheim  says,  "  to  enumerate 
the  rites  and  institutions  which  were  added  in  this 
century  to  the  Christian  worship,  would  require  a 
volume  of  considerable  size ;"  and  again,  in  the  next 
centui-y,  "  the  cause  of  true  religion  sunk  apace,  and 
the  gloomy  reign  of  superstition  extended  itself  in 
proportion  to  the  decay  of  genuine  piety.  This  la- 
mentable decay  was  supplied  by  a  multitude  of  rites 
and  ceremonies. "t  Among  these,  the  canon  of  the 
mass  was  for  the  first  time  established.  Almost  as  a 
necessary  consequence  of  this  departure  from  the 
truth,  an  edict  was  passed  by  the  council  of  Orleans, 
in  the  year  538,  to  enforce  more  strictly  the  observ- 
ance of  the  first  day  of  the  week. J  Country  labor, 
which  had  been  left  open  by  the  edict  of  Constantino, 

*  16th  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Nice. 

t  Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History,' vol.  ii.  6th  and  7th  centurie. 

X  Encyclopedia,  article  Sunday. 


SABBATH    DAY.  73 

was  interdicted.  Still  it  was  declared,  that  to  hold  it 
unlawful  to  travel  with  horses,  cattle  and  carriages,  to 
prepare  food,  or  to  do  any  thing  necessary  to  the 
cleanliness  or  decency  of  persons  or  houses,  savored 
more  of  Judaism  than  Christianity ;  and  the  council 
of  Laodicea  enjoined  that  men  should  abstain  from 
work  if  possible;  but  if  any  were  found  to  Judaize, 
that  is  to  say,  to  keep  the  day  with  great  strictness, 
"they  were  to  be  censured  as  great  trangressors."* 
Whilst,  in  the  corruptions  of  the  church,  they 
thus  increased  their  laws  relative  to  labor  on  that 
day,  it  is  everywhere  apparent  that  they  rejected 
the  idea  of  the  Jewish  strictness  ;  and  it  is  equally 
apparent  that  the  church  had  become  extremely 
ceremonial.  Thus,  at  the  council  of  Gangra,  before 
referred  to,  an  edict  was  passed,  that  "  if  any  should 
take  upon  him,  out  of  the  church,  privately  to 
preach  at  home,  and  making  light  of  the  church, 
shall  do  those  things  that  belong  only  to  the  church, 
without  the  presence  of  the  priests,  and  the  leave 
and  allowance  of  the  bishop,  let  him  be  accursed. "f 
These  things  are  connected  together,  and  they  are 
equally  the  effect  of  a  ceremonial  religion.  It  would 
take  volumes  to  recount  them,  and  they  are  all  alike 
separated  from  that  beautiful   simplicity  inculcated 


^Encyclopedia  Brit.,  Art.  "  Sabbath." 
t  Cave's  Primitive  Christianity,chap.  vii 


page  110. 
0* 


74  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

bj  Jesus  Christ,  wliicli  Avas  the  daily  and  hourly 
practice  of  virtue. 

It  is  stated  by  Morer,  that  in  the  fifth  century, 
the  Christians,  after  divine  service,  followed  their 
daily  employments.  "It  was  not  done,"  he  says, 
until  the  meeting  or  service  was  quite  over,  when 
they  might  with  innocency  enough  resume  them, 
because  the  length  of  time,  and  the  number  of  hours 
assigned  for  piety,  were  not  then  so  well  understood 
as  at  present."     (See  Dialogue  on  the  Lord's  day.) 

In  the  funeral  oration  for  the  Lady  Paula,  St. 
Jerome  says,  "  She,  with  all  her  virgins  and  widows, 
who  lived  at  Bethlehem  in  a  cloister  with  her,  upon 
the  Lord's  day,  repaired  duly  to  the  church  or  house 
of  God,  which  was  nigh  to  her  cell ;  and  after  her  re- 
turn from  thence  to  her  own  lodgings,  she  herself, 
and  all  her  company,  fell  to  work^  and  every  one  per- 
formed their  task,  which  was  the  making  of  clothes 
and  garments  for  themselves  and  for  others,  as  they 
were  appointed." 

St.  Chrysostom,  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  re- 
commended to  his  audience,  after  impressing  upon 
themselves  and  their  families  what  they  had  heard  on 
the  Lord's  day,  to  return  to  their  daily  employments 
and  trades.* 

There  is  a  letter  from  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  in- 
serted in  the  canon  law,  in  which  he  says,  "What 
■^  Burnside  on  the  Sabbath,  p.  IG. 


SABBATH    DAY.  75 

shall  I  call  them  but  the  preachers  of  Anti- Christ, 
who,  at  his  coming,  will  make  men  abstain  from 
all  work  on  the  Sabbath,  and  on  the  Lord's  day? 
I  have  been  informed  also,  of  the  preaching  of  certain 
evil-disposed  men,  who  say  no  one  should  bathe  on 
the  Lord's  day.  If,  indeed,  it  is  a  question  of  bathing 
through  a  spirit  of  sensuality,  we  do  not  allow  it  on 
any  day  whatever ;  but  if  a  person  resort  to  it  for  some 
useful  purpose,  we  do  not  forbid  it,  even  on  the 
Lord's  day." 

There  were  other  attempts  to  solemnize  the  day, 
which  are  not  mentioned  in  ecclesiastical  history; 
and,  so  far  as  they  can  be  traced,  they  appear  to  have 
been  most  apparent  wherever  people  most  departed 
from  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel.  Thus  it  is  men- 
tioned of  the  Saxons,  by  Bacon,  in  his  Notes  on  Sel- 
den,  that  when  they  first  settled  in  England,  they 
began  their  Sunday  on  Saturday  at  3  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  held  it  until  Monday  morning ;  during 
which  time  they  refrained  from  their  usual  occupations 
of  hunting,  &c.  Many  of  their  laws  are  still  pre- 
served, showing  them  to  have  been  an  extremely 
superstitious  people,  and  Hume  says  they  were  worse 
than  the  ancient  Britons. 

I  may  remark  that  the  Roman  laws  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  Sunday  are  extant  in  the  "  Corpus  Juris  Civilis," 
collected  by  Dionysius  Gothofredus.  There  is  at  least 
one  distinct  notice  that  the  enactments  were  made  at 


76  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

the  instance  of  the  clergy ;  and  Warburton,  himself 
a  bishop,  in  his  work  upon  Julian,  referring  to  the 
severities  that  were  exercised  towards  the  popular 
clergy,  at  the  period  succeeding  Constantino,  says, 
"  It  cannot  be  denied,  that  their  turbulent  and  insolent 
manners  deserved  all  the  severities  that  were  put  upon 
them."  Sabbatarians  may  object  to  these  laws,  as 
having  resulted  from  a  church  more  or  less  corrupted ; 
but  they  are  left  in  this  dilemma,  to  accept  them  or 
none.  They  have  been  the  foundation  of  all  our  laws 
relative  to  the  observance  of  Sunday — they  have  been 
revised,  and  modified,  and  changed,  according  to  the 
caprices  of  particular  periods  of  time,  but  they  rest 
upon  no  other  foundation  than  ceremonial  union  be- 
tween church  and  state. 

According  to  Heylyn,  it  was  many  ages  after  Chris- 
tianity was  received  in  Great  Britain,  before  they  paid 
any  respect  to  the  first  day  of  the  week. 

All  the  amusements  and  labor,  common  in  other 
parts  of  Europe,  had  been  allowed  in  England.  By 
act  of  Parliament,  festival  days  included  Sundays: 
and  a  law  was  passed,  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  in  these  words :  ''  All  pastors,  vicars  and 
curates  shall  teach  and  declare  unto  the  people,  that 
they  may,  with  a  safe  and  quiet  conscience,  after 
their  common  prayer,  in  time  of  harvest,  labor  upon 
the  holy  and  festival  days,  and  save  that  thing  which 
God  hath  sent ;  and  if,  for  any  scrupulosity  or  grudge 
of  conscience,  they  abstain  from  working  on  that  day, 


SABBATH    DAY.  77 

that  then  they  shall  grievously  offend  and  displease 
God."* 

The  Parliament  of  England  met  on  Sundays  until 
the  time  of  Richard  the  Third,  in  the  year  1483. 

Many  of  the  kings  were  crowned  on  Sunday,  among 
whom  were  Rufus,  Stephen,  Henry  II.,  Richard  I. 
and  John.  Richard  I.  was  crowned  twice, — once  in 
the  beginning  of  his  reign,  and  again  upon  his  return 
from  the  Holy  Land, — and  both  times  on  Sunday. 
The  daughter  of  Henry  II.  was  on  Sunday  crowned 
Queen  of  Sicily,  at  Palermo.  King  John  was  first 
inaugurated  Duke  of  Normandy,  and  afterwards 
crowned  king,  each  event  transpiring  on  Sunday. 

The  first  law  of  England  made  for  the  keeping  of 
Sunday,  was  in  the  time  of  Edward  VI.,  about  1470. 
"  Parliament  then  passed  an  act  by  which  Sunday  and 
many  holy  days,  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  of  Holy  Inno- 
cents, &c.,  were  established  as  festivals  by  law.  This 
provided  also,  that  it  should  be  lawful  for  husbandmen, 
laborers,  fishermen  and  all  others  in  harvest,  or  any 
other  time  of  the  year  when  necessity  should  require, 
to  labor,  ride,  fish,  or  do  any  other  kind  of  work,  at 
their  own  free  will  and  pleasure  upon  any  of  the  said 
days."t 

In  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  churches  and  chapels 
were  opened ;  the  after  part  of  the  day  was  devoted  to 
rational  enjoyments ;  this  was  not  confined  to 
the   Roman    Catholics.     The   Waldenses    and   other 

"  Horae  Sabbaticae.  f  Heylyn. 


78  INSTITUTION    OP   THE 

mystics,  also  rejected  the  sacredness  of  the  day,  and 
all  the  eminent  reformers,  to  whose  writings  we  have 
had  access,  except  only  such  as  have  been  connected 
with  the  puritan  movement,  have  opposed  this  Sabbath 
doctrine.  Luther  in  his  "Instruction  to  Christians 
how  to  make  use  of  Moses,"  says,  "  The  law  of  Moses 
belongs  to  the  Jews,  and  is  no  longer  binding  upon  us. 
The  words  of  Scripture  prove  clearly  to  us  that  the 
ten  commandments  do  not  affect  us ;  for  God  has  not 
brought  us  out  of  Egypt,  but  only  the  Jews.  We  are 
willing  to  take  Moses  as  a  teacher,  but  not  as  our  law- 
giver, except  when  he  agrees  with  the  New  Testament 
and  with  the  law  of  nature.  *  *  *  *  No  single  point 
in  Moses  binds  us.  *  *  *  *  Leave  Moses  and  his 
people  alone.  Their  work  is  done.  He  has  nothing 
to  do  with  me.  I  listen  to  the  word  which  concerns 
me.  We  have  the  gospel."  *  *  *  *  In  his  "Expla- 
nation of  the  Ten  Commandments,"  he  says,  "  We 
must  remark  at  the  outset,  that  the  ten  command- 
ments do  not  apply  to  us  Gentiles  and  Christians,  but 
only  to  the  Jews.  If  a  preacher  wishes  to  force  you 
back  to  Moses,  ask  him  whether  you  were  brought  by 
Moses  out  of  Egypt  ?  If  he  says,  No  !  then  say.  How 
then  does  Moses  concern  me,  since  he  speaks  to  the 
people  that  have  been  brought  out  of  Egypt  ?"**** 
In  another  passage  of  the  same  work  he  says,  '  We 
must  stop  the  mouths  of  the  factious  spirits  who  say, 
'thus  says  Moses;'  then  do  you  reply,  'Moses  does  not 
concern  us ;  if  I  accept  Moses  in  one  commandment, 


SABBATH   DAY.  79 

I  must  accept  the  whole  Moses ;  in  that  case  I  should 
be  obliged  to  be  circumcised,  and  to  wash  my  clothes 
in  a  Jewish  manner.  Therefore,  we  will  not  obey 
Moses,  or  accept  him.  Moses  died,  and  his  govern- 
ment terminated  when  Christ  came.'"* 

I  make  the  following  extracts  from  the  institute  of 
John  Calvin,  the  founder  of  the  Presbyterian  church : 

^'But  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  every  thing  was 
abolished  at  the  coming  of  Christ  our  Lord.  For  he 
is  the  reality,  at  whose  presence  all  types  vanish ;  the 
substance,  at  whose  sight  shadows  are  forsaken ;  he, 
I  say,  is  the  true  fulfilment  of  the  Sabbath.  Being 
by  baptism  buried  with  him,  we  have  been  grafted  in- 
to a  share  of  his  death,  that,  being  partakers  of  the 
resurrection,  we  should  walk  in  newness  of  life. 
Therefore,  the  apostle  in  another  place  says,  that  the 
Sabbath  was  the  shadow  of  something  future, — that 
in  Christ  is  the  body ;  that  is,  the  solid,  real  substance, 
which  in  that  place  he  has  well  explained.  This  is 
content,  not  with  one  day,  but  with  the  whole  course 
of  our  life,  until,  being  wholly  dead  to  ourselves,  we 
are  filled  with  the  life  of  God.  Far,  therefore,  from 
Christians  ought  to  be  the  superstitious  observance  of 
days."t 

*  See  Michelet's  Lifeof  Luther,  translated  by  Hazlitt ;  also  Heng- 
stenberg. 

f  Translated  for  this  work  from  a  Latin  copy  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Library. 


80  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

In  another  place  he  says,  The  false  prophets  have 
said  that  nothing  was  abrogated  but  Tvhat  was  cere- 
monial in  the  commandment,  -while  the  moral  part  re- 
mains— to  wit :  '  the  observance  of  one  day  in  seven  ;' 
but  this  is  nothing  else  than  to  insult  the  Jews  by 
changing  the  day,  and  yet  mentally  attributing  to  it 
the  same  sanctity,  thus  retaining  the  same  typical 
distinction  of  days  as  had  place  among  the  Jews."* 

Melancthon,  in  the  Augsbm-g  Confession  of  Faith, 
has  these  sentences : 

"  For  they  who  think  the  observance  of  the  Lord's 
day  has  been  appointed  by  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
instead  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a  thing  necessary,  greatly 
err.  The  Scripture  allows  that  we  are  not  bound  to 
keep  the  Sabbath ;  for  it  teaches  that  the  ceremonies 
of  the  law  of  Moses  are  not  necessary  after  the  reve- 
lation of  the  gospel.  And  yet,  because  it  was  requi- 
site to  appoint  a  certain  day,  that  the  people  might 
know  when  to  assemble  together,  it  appears  that  the 
Chm-ch  appointed  for  this  pm-pose  the  Lord's  day, 
which  for  this  reason,  also,  seems  to  have  pleased  the 
more,  that  men  might  have  an  example  of  Christian 
liberty,  and  might  know  that  the  observance  neither 
of  the  Sabbath  nor  of  any  other  day  is  necessary." 

Zuinglius,  the  Swiss  reformer,  expresses  the  opinion 
that  it  is  lawful  for  any  man,  after  divine  service,  to 
pursue  his  labors. 

*  Institutes,  vol   i.  459  and  466. 


SABBATH    DAY,  81 

Martin  Bucer,  one  of  the  most  eminent  reformers 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  says  Heylyn,  "  Goes  further 
yet,  and  doth  not  only  call  it  a  superstition,  ?jut  an 
apostacy  from  Christ,  to  think  that  working  on  the 
Lord's  day  in  itself  considered  is  a  sinful  thing."* 
Bucer  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  Re- 
formation. Cranmer,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  gave 
him  an  invitation  to  come  over  to  England,  where  he 
became  a  great  favorite  with  Edward  VI,  He  was 
buried  at  Cambridge  with  great  pomp.  Five  years 
afterwards,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  his  remains 
were  dug  up  and  publicly  bui-nt.  He  composed  many 
works  on  the  Evangelists  and  Gospels,  and  considered 
it  a  sinful  thing  to  omit  working  on  Sunday. 

Knox,  the  eminent  Scottish  reformer,  wrote  before 
the  Sabbath  excitement  in  Scotland.  His  confession  in 
1560,  in  which  the  works  that  are  reputed  "  good  be- 
fore  God,"  to  use  his  own  words,  are  recounted  with 
great  minuteness,  is  altogether  silent  upon  the  duty 
of  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath  day.  This  may  be  con- 
sidered conclusive  that  he  was  not  a  Sabbatarian,  and 
it  is  known  that  theatrical  diversions  were  permitted 
on  that  day,  in  Scotland,  until  after  his  death. 

In  the  year  1516  Erasmus  characterized  the  tendency 
towards  Judaism  as  a  pest  the  most  dangerous  to 
Christianity,  t 

It  may  be  observed  that  the  Romish  Church  as- 
"^  Bucer  on  Mat.  p.  181.         f  Erasmus,  Epistles,  p.  207. 


82  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

sumed  that  Sunday  and  all  festivals  "vyere  under  the 
control  of  the  Vatican,  and  that  the  sanctity  of  the 
day  derived  no  authority  from  the  Jewish  laws. 

The  Episcopalians,  though  denying  the  authority  of 
the  Pope,  took  essentially  the  same  ground. 

Paley ;  Heylin,  chaplain  to  King  Charles  the  First ; 
Wheatly,  D.  D.,  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  and  many 
others,  have  been  conspicuous  in  resisting  the  super- 
stition. 

Bishop  White,  so  favorably  known  for  many  years 
in  Philadelphia,  in  his  work  on  the  Catechism,  pages 
64  and  66,  says,  "  That  any  employment  con- 
ducive to  the  public  weal,  which  cannot  be  suspended 
without  defeating  the  object,  such  as  gathering  the 
harvest  on  Sunday,  &c.,  may  be  allowed  on  Sunday." 

Again,  in  his  lectures  he  says,  "The  blessing  of  the 
seventh  day  is  mentioned  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of 
Genesis,  at  the  closing  of  the  act  of  creation ;  but  this 
is  thought  by  some  to  have  been  done  without  any  in- 
timation of  an  appointment  in  Paradise,  and  only  to  ac- 
count for  its  being  made  to  the  children  of  Israel 
in  the  wilderness.  Certain  it  is,  that  we  meet  with 
no  instance  of  an  actual  hallowing  of  the  Sabbath, 
until  we  reach  the  16th  chapter  of  Exodus :  and  the 
manner  of  the  giving  and  the  receiving  of  the  insti- 
tution, carries  strong  appearances  of  its  not  being 
familiar  to  the  Israelites.  This  seems  not  easily  to 
be  accounted  for,  if  it  had  been  observed  by  their 


SABBATH    DAY.  88 

patriarchal  forefatherSj  of  which,  also,  there  is  not  a 
hint  in  their  history/.  *  *  * 

^'  In  regard  to  its  duration,  it  appears  evident,  that 
so  far  as  regarded  the  authority  of  the  injunction  to 
the  Israelites,  and  unless  some  new  obligation  can  be 
shown,  the  institution  ceased,  even  in  relation  to 
Jewish  converts  to  Christianity,  at  the  destruction  of 
their  religious  polity,  and  that  it  ivas  never  extended 
to  the  Gentile  Christians  ;  of  this  there  shall  be  given 
but  one  proof,  it  being  decisive  to  the  point.  It  is  in 
the  2d  chapter  of  Colossians  : — ^  Let  no  man  there- 
fore judge  you  in  meat  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of 
an  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sahhath 
days.'  Here  the  Sabbath  is  considered  as  falling 
with  the  whole  body  of  the  ritual  laws  of  Moses, 
And  this  may  show  the  reason,  on  which  the  church 
avoids  the  calling  of  the  day  of  public  worship,  '•  the 
Sabbath.'  It  is  never  so  called  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment :  and  in  the  primitive  church,  the  term  '  Sab- 
batising  '  carried  with  it  the  reproach  of  a  leaning  to 
the  abrogated  observance  of  the  law  J"  *  *  '^ 

Thomas  Arnold,  D.  D.,  Professor  in  the  University 
of  Oxford  so  late  as  1840,  speaking  in  favor  of  re- 
creation, says,  ^'If  the  railway  enables  people  in  the 
great  towns  to  get  out  into  the  country  on  Sunday,  I 
should  think  it  a  very  great  good."  (See  his  works, 
second  English  edition,  204-206  :) 

To  copy  the  sentiments  of  the  eminent  ecclesiastic 


84  INSTITUTION    OF   THS 

cal  writers  upon  this  subject,  would  swell  our  pages 
beyond  what  is  needful  for  this  work,  and  I  content 
myself  with  one  further  extract  from  "  The  British 
Critic,  Quarterly  Theological  Review,  and  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Recorder :" 

"The  Jews,  who,  in  this  respect  at  least,  may  be 
admitted  to  be  the  best  interpreters  of  their  own  law, 
uniformly  maintained,  that  the  Sabbath,  like  circum- 
cision, was  given  exclusively  to  them,  as  the  sign  of 
the  covenant  which  God  had  made  with  them ;  that  it 
belonged,  in  no  sense,  to  the  Gentiles ;  and  that  it 
was  not  lawful  even  for  the  proselytes  of  the  gate  to 
observe  it.  'It  is  a  sign  between  me  and  the  cMldren 
of  Israel  forever,'  Exodus  xxxi.  17.  '  Moreover, 
also,  I  gave  them  my  Sabbaths  to  be  a  sign  between 
me  and  them,'  Ezek.  xxi.  12.  'And  hallow  my 
Sabbaths ;  and  they  shall  be  a  sign  between  me  and 
you.'  Ezek.  xxi.  20.  When  that  covenant,  of  which 
the  Sabbath  was  a  sign^  was  abrogated,  the  Sabbath 
itself  was  of  course  abrogated  itrith  it.  This  is  con- 
fessed; but  it  is  said,  that  the  observance  of  the 
seventh-day  Sabbath  is  transferred,  in  the  Christian 
church,  to  the  first  day  of  the  week.  We  ask,  by 
what  authority?  and  are  much  mistaken,  if  an  exami- 
nation of  all  the  texts  in  the  New  Testament,  in  which 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  Lord's  day,  is  mentioned, 
does  not  prove  that  there  is  no  divine  or  apostolical 
precept  enjoining  its  observance,  nor  any  certain  evi- 


SABBATH    DAY.  85 

dence  from  Scripture  that  it  it  was,  in  fact,  so  observed 
in  the  time  of  the  apostles." 


CHAPTER  V. 

PURITANS     OF     ENGLAND,    ORIGINATORS     OF     THE    TERM 
CHRISTIAN   SABBATH- 

From  the  advent  of  Christ  throughout  the  Apostolic 
and  Middle  ages,  one  feeling  and  sentiment  prevailed 
respecting  the  first  day  of  the  week, — an  entire  re- 
jection of  the  Jewish  doctrine  regarding  it.  In  this, 
as  we  have  seen,  Christ  and  the  apostles,  various  eccle- 
siastical councils,  the  eminent  reformers.  Church  and 
State,  all  with  one  accord  participated.  Adopting 
the  spirit  of  the  decree  of  Constantino,  they  made 
the  Sunday  a  day  of  rejoicing,  a  day  of  rest,  where 
it  was  most  convenient  to  rest, a  day  of  labor,  where 
that  was  most  proper,  without  attaching  any  supersti- 
tion to  it. 

A  change  came  over  the  British  nation,  in  the  six 
teenth  century,  through  the  influence  of  the  Puritans. 
As  an  organized  body  they  are  now  extinct;  but 
at  that  period  they  embraced  a  great  variety  of 
heterogeneous  people.  There  were  the  Millenarians, 
who  required  that  all  government  should  be  abolished 
in  order  to  prepare  the  way  for  Christ's  second  com- 
ing ;  the  Levellers,  who  asked  for  an  equal  division  of 


S6  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

property;  the  Antinomians,  who  insisted  that  the 
obligations  of  morality  should  be  suspended,  that  the 
elect  might  reign ;  the  Republicans,  who  were  intoxi 
cated  with  their  own  saintly  character ;  others  who 
desired  the  extinction  of  the  whole  system  of  English 
jurisprudence.  A  considerable  party  declaimed 
against  tythes.*  These  and  many  others  were'^lassed 
under  the  general  name  of  Puritans.  Many  of  them 
were  known  by  the  name  Sabbatarians,  from  their 
calling  the  first  day  of  the  week  Sabbath  instead  of 
Sunday. 

We  do  great  injustice  to  the  truth  of  history  by 
confounding  together,  the  different  classes  of  Puritans 
among  whom  there  were  greater  differences  than  be- 
tween Protestants  and  Catholics.  They  were  united 
for  a  common  object,  the  destruction  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  and  the  Episcopal  Hierarchy,  which  they  be- 
lieved to  be  closely  connected  with  it.  When  these 
ends  were  gained,  though  intermixed,  they  were  no 
longer  one  people,  and  finally  centered  in  three  great 
divisions,  the  Independents,  the  Presbyterians  and 
the  Brownists.  Each  of  these  gained  supreme  power : 
the  two  former  in  England,  the  latter  in  America. 
Of  these,  the  Independents,  with  Cromwell  at  their 
head,  were  the  most  liberal,  and  we  do  them  injustice 
by  ascribing  their  forbearance  to  either  the  Presby- 
terians or  the  Brownists.  Neither  of  them  had  any 
true  conception  of  civil  or  religious  liberty.     With 

^'  Hume's  History  of  England, 


SABBATH    DAY.  87 

one  heart  and  spirit  they  all  united  against  the  Roman 
Catholics. 

Cromwell  wrote  in  favor  of  liberty  of  conscience 
without  understanding  it.  Henry  Vane,  the  younger, 
was  deemed  to  be  a  curse  to  New  England,  where  at 
one  period  he  acted  as  Governor,  because  of  his 
liberal  sentiments.*  Yet  in  England  he  was  at 
the  head  of  the  Covenanters  against  the  Roman 
Catholics ;  and  this  alone  marks  not  liberty  of  con- 
science, but  an  uncertain  and  limited  toleration. 
Toleration  is  not  liberty  of  conscience,  but  a  proclama- 
tion of  the  power  to  abridge  it ;  a  government  that  has 
power  to  tolerate  has  also  the  power  to  do  it  away,  as 
was  the  case  in  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes. 

The  Pm^itans  declared  unequivocally  the  supremacy 
of  their  interpretation  of  what  they  called  the  word 
of  God,  in  opposition  to  all  traditions  and  human 
constitutions ;  that  the  form  of  government  ordained 
by  the  apostles  was  aristocratical,  according  to  the 
constitution  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim,  and  was  de- 
signed as  a  pattern  for  the  churches  in  after  ages ; 
and  that  the  standard  of  uniformity,  and  which  was 
to  be  supported  by  the  sword,  was  not  liberty  of  con- 
science and  freedom  of  profession,  but  the  "decrees 
of  provincial  and  national  synods. "f 

It  was  Dr.  Bound,  one  of  the  rigid  Puritans,  who 

*  Mather's  Magnalia. 

f  NeaVs  History  of  the  Puritans,  London  edition,  yol.  i.  p.  136. 


88  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

applied  the  name  Sabbath  to  the  first  day  of  the  week. 
About  the  year  1595,  he  published  a  book  upon  the 
subject,  particularly  decrying  the  Romish  festivals,  in 
which  he  stated  that  the  Church  of  Eome  had  joined 
many  other  days  to  the  seventh  day,  making  them 
equal,  if  not  superior,  as  well  in  the  solemnity  of 
divine  offices,  as  in  restraint  from  labor;  that  the 
commandment  for  sanctifying  every  seventh  day  in 
the  Mosaic  Decalogue,  is  natural,  moral  and  perpetual, 
and  that  the  church  had  no  authority  to  sanctify  any 
other  day. 

This  new  Sabbath  doctrine,  as  it  was  called,  of 
Bound's,  met  with  violent  opposition  from  the  Epis- 
copal and  other  churches.  Archbishop  Whitgift  con- 
demned the  book,  and  Rogers,  another  clergyman, 
said,  "  that  it  was  the  comfort  of  his  soul,  and  would 
be  to  his  dying  day,  that  he  had  been  the  man  and 
the  means  by  which  the  Sabbatarian  errors  were 
brought  to  the  light  and  knowledge  of  the  State. '"^  To 
counteract  this  doctrine,  the  book  ''  Concerning  lawful 
sports,  to  be  used  on  Sundays  after  divine  service," 
which  had  been  heretofore  issued,  was  republished  by 
King  Charles  I.,  with  an  order  that  it  should  be  cir- 
culated through  all  the  parish  churches.  This  allowed 
of  all  kinds  of  diversions  on  Sunday;  and  the  king 
declared  that  it  was  done  "  out  of  pious  care  for  the 

*  Neal's  Hist.  Puritans,  London  edition,  1768,  vol.  i.  p.  495  and 
vol.  ii.  pp.  238-39. 


SABBATH    DAY.  89 

service  of  God,  and  for  suppressing  of  those  humors 
that  oppose  truth,  and  for  the  ease,  comfort,  and  re- 
creation of  his  majesty's  well  deserving  people."* 
The  bishops  recommended  these  recreations,  "as 
bringing  the  people  more  "willingly  to  church,  as  tend- 
ing to  civilize  them,  and  to  compose  differences  among 
them,  and  as  serving  to  increase  love  and  unity."* 
The  Puritans  violently  opposed  them ;  many  of  the 
clergy  refused  to  read  the  king's  orders  in  their 
churches.  The  animosity  was  very  severe,  and  was 
carried  on  for  many  years.  The  whole  argument  of 
the  Sabbatarians  rested  upon  the  Mosaic  code.  It 
serves  to  show  the  error  of  trying  to  make  the  con- 
sciences of  men  depend  upon  State  laws.  What  is 
sanctioned  in  one  age  is  condemned  in  another,  from 
the  particular  caprices  of  those  who  may  happen  to 
be  in  power. 

It  is  stated  that  every  passage  in  the  Bible,  whether 
relating  to  the  legal  Sabbath,  or  to  the  spiritual  Sab- 
bath of  the  soul,  was  tortured  to  prove  their  position  ; 
and  this  was  carried  to  such  a  length,  that  chief  justice 
Popham  commanded  these  books  to  be  called  in,  and 
neither  be  printed  nor  made  public  for  a  time  to  come. 

This  is  the  oriojin  of  the  term  Christian  Sabbath,  a 
name  which  has  not  generally  been  adopted  among 

*  NeaVs  Hist.  Puritans,  London  edition,  n68,  vol.  i.  p.  495  ; 
and  vol.  ii.  pp.  238-39. 


90  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

Christians ;  and  it  ought  never  to  be  adopted,  because, 
applied  to  a  day,  it  is  a  falsehood. 

The  Puritanical  zeal  upon  the  subject  appears  to 
have  had  no  other  foundation  than  the  attempt  to  gain 
power  by  destroying  festivals  v^hich  were  sustained 
by  the  Romish  and  Episcopal  churches.  Pretending 
to  consider  themselves  peculiarly  the  church  of  Christ, 
their  fanaticism  was  directed  against  every  thing 
which  they  had  not  themselves  created. 

They  carried  their  enmity  against  churchmen  so 
far,  as  to  regard  it  as  profane  and  superstitious  to  eat 
mince-pies  at  the  period  of  Christmas.  They  objected 
to  the  day  as  a  festival,  to  establish  other  festival 
days  of  their  own  ;  they  declaimed  against  human 
learning,  challenging  the  professors  from  Oxford  to 
prove  that  their  calling  was  from  Christ,  and  set  up 
theological  schools  to  disseminate  their  own  doctrines. 
They  denounced,  as  we  have  seen,  innocent  diversions 
on  Sunday,  to  appoint  by  act  of  parliament,  when 
they  had  the  power,  another  day  in  its  place ;  and 
their  whole  history  leads  to  but  one  conclusion,  that 
if  they  could  best  have  gained  their  point  by  abolish- 
ing the  Sabbath,  instead  of  enforcing  it,  they  would 
have  done  so.  They  rejected  the  doctrines  of  the 
early  Christians,  and  the  opinions  of  Calvin,  without 
considering  that  a  day  made  holy  by  them,  had  no 
more  authority  than  a  holy  day  created  by  the  church 
of  Rome. 


SABBATH    DAY.  91 

Their  doctrine  gave  great  offence  to  the  younger 
part  of  the  community,  who  had  been  used  to  con- 
sider Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  and  of  innocent  amuse- 
ments ;  and  to  satisfy  them,  the  second  Tuesday  in 
every  month  was  appointed  in  its  place  by  act  of 
parliament.* 

In  the  excited  state  of  the  public  mind  against  the 
Catholic  chui'ch,  this  scheme  had  a  wonderful  influ- 
ence with  the  people.  Many  ways  had  been  tried  for 
several  years  to  suppress  these  festivals,  but  they 
were  all  in  vain,  till  this  new  Sabbath  doctrine  was 
brought  up. 

The  contagion  spread,  to  a  limited  extent,  in  those 
countries  where  there  was  an  opposition  to  the  Romish 
see.  Frederic  V.,  Prince  Elector  of  Palatine,  in 
an  early  period  of  the  17th  century,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  English  clergy,  for  the  first  time,  ordered 
what  was  termed  religious  service,  to  be  held  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  in  the  Calvin- 
istic  churches  of  Germany.  The  same  influence  pre- 
vailed in  the  Low  Countries,  where,  by  the  constitution, 
divine  offices  had  been  absolutely  prohibited  on  the 
afternoon  of  that  day.f 

Books  were  issued  by  the  royal  authority  at  a  later 
period,  licensing  particular  sports  and  amusements  on 
the  Sunday.    As  the  Puritans  gained  power,  the  House 

*  Hume's  History  of  England,  vol.  vii.  page  33. 
f  Heylyn's  History  of  the  Presbyterians. 


92 


INSTITUTION   OF  THE 


of  Commons,  without  any  consultation  with  the  king, 
directed  that  these  books  should  be  burnt  by  the 
hangman,  which  was  done. 

They  finally  consummated  their  work  by  beheading 
the  king,  and  assuming  all  the  power  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  existing  abuses  might  have  been  sufficient  to 
change  the  religion  of  the  State,  but  they  were 
not  sufficient,  nor  is  any  thing  sufficient  to  warrant 
corruption  of  another  kind — deception,  cant  and  hy- 
pocrisy. The  Puritans  were  horrified  at  the  sight  of 
a  surplice,  a  ring,  or  a  cross,  while  the  great  princi- 
ples of  humanity,  justice,  mercy,  and  truth,  were 
violated.  Under  their  rule  the  whole  nation  became 
convulsed  with  the  most  frivolous  disputes.  It  was 
not  only  the  great  leading  doctrine,  *'  That  saving 
grace  is  not  given,  or  communicated,  to  all  men,  and 
that  those  who  are  not  predestinated  to  salvation 
shall  necessarily  be  damned,  "f  that  distracted  the 
country,  but  the  government  itself  was  thrown  into 
violent  convulsions  respecting  the  use  of  the  surplice, 
the  rails  placed  about  the  altar,  the  ring  in  marriage, 
the  cross  in  baptism,  and  other  rites  which  Hume  calls 
mean  and  contemptible.  But  they  were  not  con- 
temptible, if  they  involved  principle. 

By  the  Puritan  book  of  discipline,  the  minister  was 
not   allowed   to   baptize   children  by   the   names  of 

■^Heylin's  History. 

f  Nine  articles  of  Lambeth  in  Hist.,  Presbyterians,  p.  342. 


SABBATH   DAY.  93 

Richard,  Robert,  &c.,  which  savored  of  paganism; 
they  were  to  use  Scripture  names,  such  as  Obadiah, 
Zephaniah,  Hezekiah,  &c.,  which  are  so  common 
among  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans  at  the  present 
day :  and  to  the  same  soui'ce  are  we  indebted  for  such 
names  as  Deliverance,  Virtue,  Fear,  Hope,  Charity, 
Thankful,  Consolation,  The  Lord  is  Near,  and  a 
variety  of  others  of  the  same  character. 

The  name  of  the  Speaker  of  the  Long  Parliament 
was  "  Praise-God  Barebones."  The  names  of  a  jury, 
in  Sussex,  are  thus  given  in  Broom's  Travels : — 
Accepted  Trevor,  Redeemed  Compton,  Faint-not 
Hewitt,  Make-Peace  Heaton,  God-Reward  Smart, 
Hope-for  Bending,  Earth  Adams,  Called  Lower, 
Kill-Sin  Pimple,  Retm^n  Spelman,  Be-Faithful  Joiner, 
Fly-Debate  Roberts,  Fight-the-good-Fight-of-Faith 
White,  More-Fruit  Fowler,  Stand-fast-on-high  String- 
er, Graceful  Herding,  Weep-not  Billing,  Meek  Brewer. 

The  Puritans  ordained,  that  not  only  labor  and 
amusements  should  be  interdicted,  but  that  all  travel- 
ling should  be  stopped ;  May-poles,  which  appeared 
like  heathenish  vanities,  should  be  removed  ;  no  barber 
should  be  allowed  to  shave  a  man  on  Sunday  ;  no 
tailor  to  carry  home  a  suit  of  clothes;  no  one  was 
allowed  to  sit  at  his  own  door,  to  walk  the  streets,  or 
to  enjoy  the  fresh  air  in  the  open  fields.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  preached  from  the  pulpits,  that  to  do  any  ser- 

9 


94  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

vile  work  or  business  on  the  Lord's  day,  was  as  great  a 
sin  as  to  kill  a  man  ;  that  to  make  a  feast,  or  to  dress 
a  wedding-dinner,  was  as  unlawful  as  for  a  father  to 
take  a  knife  and  cut  his  child's  throat.* 

Laws  of  this  nature,  more  or  less  severe,  are  every- 
where intermixed  with  the  Puritanic  discipline  ;  they 
were,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  a  Sabbath-keep- 
ing people ;  it  formed  one  of  the  most  prominent  traits 
of  their  character ;  and  if  there  is  a  page  of  history 
that  can  exemplify  the  peculiar  effect  of  a  Sabbath-day 
religion,  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  recorded  account  of 
the  Puritans. 

Hume,  in  his  History  of  England,!  says,  ''Their 
whole  discourse  and  language  were  polluted  with 
mysterious  jargon,  and  full  of  the  lowest  and  most 
vulgar  hypocrisy. 

AYhether  allowance  is  to  be  made  or  not  for  the 
opinion  of  a  royalist  author,  it  is  certain,  that  their 
conduct  seemed  to  threaten  the  destruction  of  the 
social  fabric.  They  were  called  democratic  in  their 
principles,  and  they  certainly  resisted  arbitrary  power. 
They  resisted  it  in  order  to  gain  it  for  themselves, 
and  they  gained  it  but  to  abuse  it.  They  obtained  an 
ascendency  in  religion  to  open  rivers  of  blood,  and  to 
establish  ridiculous  innovations. 

Heylyn,  in  his   History  of  the  Presbyterians,  says 

'•"  History  of  the  Presbyterians, 
t  Vol.  Ti.  page  390. 


SABBATH    DAY.  ^b 

of  them,  "  More  goodly  houses  were  plundered  and 
burnt  down  to  the  ground,  more  churches  sacrilegiously 
profaned  and  spoiled,  more  blood  poured  out  like 
water,  within  four  years  space,  than  had  been  done  in 
the  long  course  of  civil  wars  between  York  and  Lan_ 
caster.  With  all  which  spoil  and  public  ruin,  they 
purchased  nothing  to  themselves  but  shame  and  infamy, 
as  may  be  shown  by  taking  a  brief  view  of  their  true 
condition  before  and  after  they  put  the  state  into 
these  confusions."* 

A  few  years  completed  the  sovereignty  of  the  Pres- 
byterians in  Great  Britain.  They  were  out  voted  and 
out  generalled  by  the  Independents,  who,  with  Crom- 
well at  their  head,  obtained  the  control  of  the  British 
Empire. 

The  Presbyterians  were  established  by  law  in  Scot- 
land.  The  Brownists  had  been  banished  first  to 
Holland,  and  thence  emigrated  to  America,  and  these 
comprise  the  whole  number  of  those  who  maintained 
that  ascetic  severity  regarding  Sunday,  which  is  the 
object  of  our  inquiry. 

We  have  said,  in  our  prefatory  pages,  that  the 
tendency  of  the  Sabbath  superstition  was  to  impair 
the  morals  of  the  people.  We  have  traced  the  history 
of  the  institution  through  all  its  phases  up  to  the 
period  of  the  Puritans.  We  have  given  to  no  text, 
to  no  history,  an  interpretation  which  it  does  not  war- 
rant ;  and  we  think  the  candid  inquirer  will  readily 

^  Heylyn,  469. 


96  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

arrive  at  the  conclusion,  that  the  Sunday  of  England 
and  the  Sunday  of  America,  with  its  gloom  and  asce- 
ticism, rests  upon  no  adequate  foundation,  is  a  belief 
without  evidence,  and  as  such,  may  be  properly  termed 
a  gross  superstition. 

Admitting  that  this  reasoning  is  correct,  it  will 
hardly  be  denied  that  superstition  is  injurious  to  the 
human  character,  and  the  Sabbath  forms  no  exception 
to  a  universal  rule.  History  confirms  this  conclusion, 
in  England,  Scotland,  and  America.  We  shall  pro- 
ceed to  show  that  moral  offences  increased  at  the 
period  when  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  most  * 
rigidly  enforced,  and  we  may  learn  from  analogy  that 
universally,  other  things  being  equal,  an  enforced  asce- 
tic observance  of  Sunday,  or  of  any  other  sectarian 
rites,  is  injurious  to  society. 

Eirst,  respecting  its  effect  in  England.  William  Penn 
thus  characterizes  this  period :  "  Oh,  the  unheard-of 
hypocrisy  of  that  age  !  Sycophants  in  grain,  enough 
to  poison  the  whole  world  with  their  flatteries,  whose 
interest  was  their  conscience,  and  power  their  re- 
ligion ;  devotion  only  serving  to  stalk  their  stratagems 
to  promotion;  but  the  just  God  has  swept  them  off 
the  stage,  and  their  sun  is  set  and  shall  never  rise 
more."* 

We  make  the  following  extracts  from  Hume's  His- 
tory of  England : 

*  Folio  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  86. 


SABBATH    DAY-  97 

^^  The  gloomy  enthusiasm  which  prevailed  among 
the  Parliamentary  (Puritan)  party  is  surely  the  most 
curious  spectacle  presented  by  any  history,  and  the 
most  instructive,  as  well  as  entertaining,  to  a  philoso- 
phical mind.  *  *  *  *  Though  the  English  nation  be 
naturally  candid  and  sincere,  hypocrisy  prevailed 
among  them  beyond  any  example  in  ancient  or  modern 
times."  ^  "^  ^  "^  "  Youi' friends,  the  Cavaliers,"  said 
a  Pui'itan  to  a  Royalist,  "  are  very  dissolute  and  de- 
bauched." ^'  True,"  replied  the  Royalist,  "  they  have 
the  infirmities  of  men,  but  your  friends  the  Puritans 
have  the  vices  of  devils.""^ 

Macaulay  says,  "  Those  passions  and  tastes  which 
had  been  sternly  repressed  (by  the  Sabbatarians)  broke 
forth  with  ungovernable  violence  as  soon  as  the  check 
was  withdrawn.  Men  flew  to  frivolous  amusements 
and  to  criminal  pleasm-es,  with  the  greediness  which 
long  and  enforced  abstinence  naturally  produces. 
Little  restraint  was  imposed  by  public  opinion.  For 
the  nation,  nauseated  by  cant,  suspicious  of  all  pre- 
tensions to  sanctity,  and  still  smarting  from  the 
recent  tyranny  of  rulers  austere  in  life  and  power- 
ful in  prayer,  looked  for  a  time  with  complacency  on 
the  softer  and  gayer  vices,  "t 

D'Israeli  says,  "The  ascetic  penances  (of  the 
Puritans)  were  afterwards  succeeded  in  the  nation  by 

*  Hume,  vol.  vii.  p.  331,  332. 

f  Macanlay's  History  of  England,  vol.  i.  p.  179,  5th  edition. 


98  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

an  era  of  hypocritical  sanctity,  and  we  may  trace  this 
last  stage  of  insanity  and  of  immorality,  closing  with 
impiety."  *  *  *  *  Without  inquiring  into  the  causes, 
even  if  we  thought  we  could  ascertain  them,  of  that 
frightful  dissolution  of  religion  which  so  long  pre- 
vailed in  our  country,  of  which  the  very  corruption  it 
has  left  behind  still  breeds  in  monstrous  shapes."* 

Were  it  needful,  I  might  produce  much  further  his- 
torical data,  all  tending  to  one  issue,  that  in  propor- 
tion as  forms,  rites  and  dogmas  were  made  of  primary 
importance,  so  were  the  morals  of  the  people  cor- 
rupted. All  those  severities  which  were  enacted  in 
England,  were  renewed  in  Scotland  under  the  influence 
of  the  Presbyterians.  From  evening  to  evening  the 
Sabbath  was  to  be  celebrated ;  no  persons  were  allowed 
to  walk  in  the  streets ;  pecuniary  fines,  close  and 
rigorous  confinement  and  corporal  punishment,  were 
the  penalties  for  disobedience.  Margaret  Dixon  was 
fined  eight  marks  for  having  "spits  and  roasts"  at 
the  fire  in  time  of  "  sermon. "f 

These  proceedings  were  connected  with  severe  prose- 
cutions of  those  who  differed  from  them  in  religious 
opinions. 

The  National  Covenant  was  subscribed  in  1580, 
and  renewed  in  1639,  at  the  very  period  of  the  Sabbath 

*  Curiosities  of  Literature,  vol.  vi.  p.  275,  &c. 
f  See  Wodrow's  Biographical   Collections,  vol.  ii.     Selections 
from  the  Records  of  Kirk's  sessions,  page  21. 


SABBATH    DAY.  99 

excitement.  It  ordains,  "  that  all  papists  and  priests 
shall  be  punished  with  manifold  civil  and  ecclesiastic 
cal  pains,  as  adversaries  to  God's  true  religion."''* 

The  morals  of  Scotland  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  extracts. 

Cromwell,  when  he  invaded  Scotland,  says  in  a 
letter  to  the  Lord  President  of  the  Council  of 
State,  dated  25th  of  September,  1650,  ^'1  thought 
I  should  have  found  in  Scotland  a  conscientious 
people,  and  a  barren  country ;  about  Edinburgh  it  is 
as  fertile  for  corn  as  any  part  of  England ;  but  the 
people  generally  (are  so)  given  to  the  most  impudent 
lying  and  frequent  swearing,  as  is  incredible  to  be  be- 
lieved."* 

On  the  17th  of  February,  1650,  it  is  recorded, 
"much  falsehood  and  cheating  at  this  time  was  daily 
detected  by  the  Lords  of  the  Session ;  there  was  daily 
hanging,  scourging,  boring  of  tongues,  so  that  it  was 
one  fatal  year  for  falsehood  as  daily  experience  did 
witness ;  and  as  for  adultery,  fornication,  incest, 
bigamy,  and  other  uncleanness  and  filthyness,  it  did 
never  abound  more  nor  at  this  time."  In  1653  there 
is  the  following  item :  "  The  growth  of  sin  of  all  sorts, 
particularly  pride,  uncleanness,  contempt  of  ordi- 
nances, oppression,  violence,  fraudulent  dealing,  and 
that   under   the   rod,    the   most   part  of  the   people 

*  Act  xxiv.  2(i  Parliament,  King  James  VI. 
fCarlyle's  Cromwell,  vol.  ii.p.  72. 


100  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

growing  worse  and  worse,  and  revolting  more  and 
more."* 

It  was  in  1595,  as  we  have  stated,  that  Dr.  Bound 
published  his  Sabbath  book  before  referred  to ;  thus 
it  appears  that  at  the  time  these  extracts  were  written, 
the  Sabbath  doctrine  had  had  a  full  and  almost  unin- 
terrupted sway  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and  the 
facts  appear  to  be  conclusive,  that  in  Scotland,  as  in 
England,  the  superstition  made  society  worse  instead 
of  better. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PURITANS   OF   NEW   ENGLAND. 

The  full  development  of  the  Sabbath  excitement 
was  reserved  for  the  Brownists  of  New  England,  their 
original  and  proper  name.  To  call  them  Pm-itans, 
the  term  usually  employed,  though  strictly  correct, 
leads  to  confusion,  because  that  Avas  a  generic  name 
applied  to  all  Nonconformists,  among  whom  there 
were  many  other  organizations,  some  of  them  much 
larger  than  the  Brownists ;  such  as  the  Presbyterians, 
Independents,  Baptists,  Antinomians,  Quakers,  &c. 

Robinson,  their  pastor  in  Holland,  advised  them  to 
change  their  name  to  Congregationalists,  which  they 
did.  To  use  this  term  w^ould  be  to  identify  them  with 
the  present  inhabitants  of  New  England,  who  are  in 

-  Passes  .T,  4  and  101. 


SABBATH    DAY 


101 


many  respects  a  distinct  people.  Much  error  arises 
from  the  want  of  a  proper  understanding  of  the  term 
Puritan.  Many  of  the  New  England  writers  are  de- 
ficient either  in  intelligence  or  honesty,  in  confound- 
ing them  with  the  Independents,  a  more  liberal  class 
of  Puritans. 

The  Brownists  owed  their  origin  to  Robert  Brown, 
who  was  one  of  the  first  to  recommend  the  independent 
system  of  church  government,  to  w^hich  they  have 
mostly  adhered.  He  also  recommended  that'  lay- 
members  should  be  at  liberty  to  speak  in  their  meet- 
ings. If  we  recollect  right.  Brown  boasted  of  having 
been  committed  to  thirty  prisons,  and  it  was  believed 
that  he  only  escaped  execution  by  his  connection  with 
the  British  Ministry.  Thacker  and  Capper,  two  minis- 
tors  of  the  Brownist  persuasion,  had  been  hanged  in  Eng- 
land for  dispersing  books  against  the  Common  Prayer  ; 
and  in  1591,  Greenwood,  Barrow  and  Penry,  were 
also  put  to  death  for  being  Brownists;  besides  this 
they  sufiered  other  severe  persecutions. 

The  Brownists  gained  nothing  by  experience.  Suf- 
fering, which  softens  most  men,  softened  not  them. 
It  seems  difficult  to  imagine  how  a  people  who  had 
earnestly  claimed  liberty  of  conscience  for  themselves, 
could  have  become  the  bitter,  unrelenting  persecutors 
of  others.     Yet  such  was  the  fact. 

In  England,  the  Puritans  had  been  restrained  to  a 
certain   extent  by  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  Epis- 


102  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

copalians.  In  the  wilderness  of  America  there  was 
none  to  molest  them ;  they  claimed  it  as  being  pecu- 
liarly tlieiy'  country ;  they  controlled  the  government? 
and  there  was  no  hindrance  to  a  full  experiment  of 
their  doctrine  respecting  Sunday.  In  Great  Britain 
it  was  so  much  mixed  up  with  politics,  with  the  struggle 
for  supremacy  in  the  British  Empire,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  decide  what  may  be  due  to  each.  In  this  country 
the  subject  was  greatly  freed  from  these  influences, 
and  hence  the  lesson  is  the  more  impressive. 

In  a  Boston  Sabbath  work,  speaking  of  the  great 
advantages  of  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath  day,  it  is  said, 
"  The  manner  in  which  people  keep  the  Sabbath  will 
be  a  test  of  their  character,  an  index  of  their  morality 
and  religion."*  We  have  in  the  Puritans  of  New 
England  one  of  the  fairest  tests  that  the  world  can 
afford;  and,  in  so  interesting  an  inquiry,  it  is  due  to 
the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  that  their  characters 
should  be  carefully  considered  as  an  index,  according  to 
the  Boston  writer,  of  what  may  be  expected  from  a 
Sabbath-keeping  people. 

I  am  not  aware  that  the  pages  of  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory furnish  any  examples  of  intolerance,  so  severe, 
so  uncalled  for,  as  those  of  the  Puritans  of  New 
England. 

Persecutions  had  been  often  more  extensive  and  eu 
*  Permanent  Sabbath  Doctrines,  No.  L 


SABBATH   DAY.  lUd 

during,  but  the  settlers  of  New  England  were  few  in 
number,  and  of  the  same  race  as  their  victims. 

They  derived  all  their  power  from  charters  granted 
by  the  British  crown,  which  prohibited  their  transcend- 
ing the  British  laws,  yet  these  were  of  no  avail. 
They  persecuted  by  turns  the  Antinomians,  the 
Roman  Catholics,  the  Episcopalians,  the  Presby- 
terians, the  Baptists,  the  Quakers,  and  not  least,  the 
poor  unhappy,  defenceless  Indians. 

It  was  this  people  that  brought  the  Sabbath  super- 
stition to  the  American  colonies,  now  these  United 
States. 

It  has  become  the  custom  in  New  England  to  eulo- 
gize their  Puritan  ancestors,  and  to  claim  for  them 
the  establishment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  this 
country.  This  is  partaken  of  by  many  respectable 
orators,  who  seem  disposed  to  make  the  public  believe 
that  it  is  true.  It  is  not  true,  let  the  story  be  told 
by  whom  it  may;  civil  and  religious  liberty  are  the 
effect  of  causes  which  did  not  exist  among  the 
Brownists  of  New  England.  The  Sabbath  doctrine, 
the  philosophy  of  authority,  was  incapable  of  produc- 
ing them.  In  morals,  as  in  physics,  events  are  in- 
volved in  the  causes  from  which  they  spring,  and  it 
argues  great  ignorance  of  the  principles  of  human 
nature  to  suppose  that  such  a  thing  was  possible. 

Oakes,  President  of  Harvard  College,  said  in  the 
year  1673,  that  "he  looked  upon  toleration  as  the  first- 


104  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

born  of  all  abominations."  (See  Belknap's  History 
of  New  Hampshire,  vol.  i.  p.  Tl.)  And  Hutchinson 
writes,  toleration  was  preached  against  as  a  sin  in 
rulers,  that  would  bring  down  the  judgment  of  Heaven 
on  the  land.  Mr.  Dudley,  one  of  their  eminent 
men,  died  with  a  copy  of  verses  in  his  pocket,  written 
with  his  own  hand  ;  the  two  following  lines,  Avhich 
made  part  of  it,  may  be  considered  as  the  Puritan 
creed  in  New  England  :* 

"  Let  men  of  God  in  court  and  churches,  watch 

O'er  such  as  do  a  toleration  hatch." 

Before  we  can  believe  that  civil  and  religious  liberty 
was  established  in  New  England,  these  sentiments 
must  be  erased,  and  the  facts  connected  with  the 
settlement  of  the  colony  be  obliterated. 

The  history  of  the  early  settlements  in  this  country 
involves  considerations  of  deep  and  peculiar  interest. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  have  long  been  two  sys- 
tems of  philosophy  respecting  the  origin  of  our  ideas  ; 
one,  the  sensuous  theory  espoused  of  latter  time 
more  particularly  by  the  celebrated  John  Locke, 
which  traced  all  our  ideas  to  the  senses  and  to  reflec- 
tions growing  out  of  them.  The  Sabbath  doctrine  of 
the  Puritans  is  founded  upon  this  theory.  The  Sab- 
bath as  a  day  of  holiness,  having  no  existence  in 
nature,  is  derived  from  authority  which  man  has  ob- 
tained through  his  eyes  and  his  ears.  This  sensuous 
theory  was  the  basis  of  the  system  of  the  Brownists, 

*  Hutchinson's  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  15. 


SABBATH   DAY.  105 

and  it  was  put  forth  in  all  its  strength  in  the  colonies 
of  New  England. 

The  second  system  embraced  the  philosophy  of  in- 
tuitive ideas,  that  there  were  spiritual  influences  not 
dependent  upon  the  senses,  which  man  learned  in  the 
secret  of  his  own  soul;  that,  however,  valuable  out- 
ward information  might  be,  however  animating  and 
encouraging,  as  showing  a  community  of  feeling  in 
kindred  minds,  yet  that  this  was  not  the  place  of  our 
rest,  that  there  was  a  higher  life,  a  spiritual  element 
which  was  alone  the  test  of  truth,  and  Vv^hich  was  to 
be  only  understood  and  comprehended  in  the  secret 
recesses  of  man's  own  mind. 

The  elementary  principles  from  which  these  two 
systems  flow,  were  openly  avowed  and  maintained  by 
several  of  the  different  colonies  of  this  country.  They 
were  in  direct  opposition  to  each  other.  Though 
neither  of  them  was  carried  out  to  its  legitimate 
issue,  yet  there  were  broad  lines  of  distinction  in 
the  colonies  that  are  worthy  of  the  careful  considera- 
tion of  a  philosophic  mind ;  because,  so  far  as  either 
of  them  may  be  proved  to  have  been  wrong  or  right 
from  the  data  w^hich  these  histories  present,  we  may 
find  some  evidence  to  sustain  correct  principles  for  the 
government  of  society. 

The  one  was  a  system  of  authority,  adhered  to  by 
the  Brownists.  The  second,  a  system  of  intuitive 
ideas,  which  formed  the  elementary  principle  of  the 

Quakers. 

10 


■    106  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

In  the  early  settlement  of  this  country,  the  Quakers 
controlled  the  governments  of  Rhode  Island,  of  New 
Jersey,  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Delaware,  and  of  the 
Carolinas. 

The  historical  facts  before  us,  which  are  seldom 
furnished,  so  far  as  they  go,  may  he  considered  a  test 
of  the  power  of  human  learning  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  the  spiritual  element  on  the  other,  as  a  means  of 
refining  and  purifying  society.      This   is   the  more 
interesting  when  it  is  considered   that  the  popular 
religion  of  the  day  is  founded  upon  the  doctrine  that 
man  is  to  learn  religion  from   his  fellow-man;  that 
through  the  means  of  Bibles  and  priests,  prayers  and 
psalm  singing,   many   of    them    ostentatious   in   the 
highest  degree,  and  all  within  the  control  of  man, 
known  and  understood  only  by  the  outward  senses, 
man  is  to  learn  religion ;  to  use  a  Scriptui'e  figure, 
they  are  ladders  by  which  he  is  to  climb  into  the  sheep- 
fold,  not  by  the  door   appointed  by  heaven,  but  in 
some  other  way. 

It  is  a  subject  of  regret,  in  examining  this  question 
that  the  histories  of  the  early  settlers  of  New  Eng- 
land, instead  of  being  reliable,  are  in  many  cases 
misrepresentations.  Bancroft,  the  most  philosophi- 
cal of  our  historians,  speaking  of  his  narrow  escape 
from  deception  by  Martin,  in  his  account  of  Carolina, 
says,  "  It  is  not  history  which  is  treacherous,  but  hasty 


SABBATH    DAY.  107 

writers  who  are  credulous   and  careless."*     Yet  he 
has  committed  the  same  error. 

History  is  lost  upon  us  if  we  fail  to  read  its  pre- 
cepts, and  to  be  benefited  bj  its  example.  To  accom- 
plish this  we  require  truth  and  not  error.  To  torture 
it  in  order  to  eulogize  the  past,  is  to  do  positive  wrong 
to  the  present  and  to  that  which  is  to  come.  It  may 
be  doubtful,  whether  a  plain  unvarnished  history  of 
the  settlement  of  New  England  is  to  be  found,  and 
this  alone  can  furnish  a  true  basis  for  our  argument. 

Instead  of  suppressing  the  truth,  it  should  be  pub- 
lished, how  sad  soever  the  picture  might  be,  as  sug- 
gesting the  deepest  and  most  profound  reflections  upon 
the  character  of  man  and  the  nature  of  the  human 
mind. 

The  following  extracts  will  show  how  little  reliance 
is  to  be  placed  upon  the  New  England  authorities. 

Everett  says,  "  we  are  indebted        Justice     Story     says,    ''The 

to  them,  (the  Puritans,)  for  two  fundamental   error   of  our  an- 

great  principles,  one  of  which  is  cestors,  an  error  which   began 

the  separation  of  Church  and  with  the  very  settlement  of  the 

State. "f     Bancroft  says,   "  An  colony,  was   a  doctrine   which 

entire  separation  was  made  be-  has  since  been  happily  exploded, 

tween     Church     and     State."J  I  mean  the  necessity  of  a  union 

This  was  said  of  Salem,  when  between  Church  and  State.     To 

they  were  rebuking  the  Baptists  this   they  clung  as  the  ark  of 

and  expelling  the  Episcopalians,  their  safety."§ 

A-Vrr^  „.,,  ^     ,.  „„.  A   letter  from   James    Cud- 

f  Everett  s Orations, page  225. 

X  Bancroft,  vol.  i.  page  348.  g  Story's  Miscellany,  p.  GG. 

*  See  vol.  ii.  p,  1G2,  note. 


108 


INSTITUTION    OF   THE 


Again,  speaking  of  the  settle- 
ment of  Plymouth,  Bancroft 
says,  "  A  wide  experience  had 
emancipated  them  from  bigotry; 
and  they  were  never  betrayed 
into  the  excesses  of  religious 
persecution,  though  they  some- 
times permitted  a  dispropor- 
tion between  punishment  and 
crime."* 

*  Bancroft,  vol.  i.  322. 


worth,  dated  in  December,  1658, 
says  of  Plymouth,  "  As  for  the 
state  and  condition  of  things 
among  us,  it  is  sad,  and  like  to 
continue  so. 

The  Anti-Christian  perse- 
cuting spirit  is  very  active,  and 
that  in  the  powers  of  this  world 
he  that  will  not  whip  and  lash 
persecute  and  punish  men  that 
differ  in  matters  of  religion,  must 
not  sit  on  the  bench,  nor  sus- 
tain any  office  in  the  common- 
wealth."* 

This  man  had  been  a  magis- 
trate and  commission  officer  in 
the  colony. 


"  The  history  of  the  world  is  the  world's  tribunal." — Schlegel. 

The  Brownists  were  brave  men  in  their  way,  of  in- 
dividual worth,  staunch,  courageous,  patient  and  en- 
during. Without  intentional  wrong,  they  acted  wrongly 
under  wrong  influences.  The  Chief  Justice  of  Boston, 
after  condemning  many  innocent  men  to  death,  de- 
clared that  he  had  done  so  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 
There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  it.  Conscience  is  swayed 
by  education,  and  is  in  itself  but  the  proof  of  sincerity. 
The  Chief  Justice,  wise  and  learned  as  he  may  have 
been,  was  influenced  by  the  authority  of  the  Jewish 
laws,  without  bringing  them  to  the  test  of  his  own 


*  Besse's  Sufferings  of  the  Quakers,  vol.  ii.  p.  191  ■ 


SABBATH    DAY.  109 

inward  feelings.  Serious  persuasions  are  always  to  be 
respected.  He  was  conscientiously  right,  but  wrong 
in  his  elementary  principles.  Like  the  superstitions 
of  the  Papists,  so  finely  characterized  in  the  epigram 
of  Swift : 

"  Who  can  believe  with  common  sense, 
A  bacon  slice  gives  God  offence; 
Or  how  a  herring  hath  a  charm, 
Almighty  vengeance  to  disarm '? 
Wrapt  up  in  majesty  divine, 
Does  He  regard  on  what  we  dine  ?" 

The  application  is  diiferent,  but  the  principle  is  the 
same.  The  actions  of  men  and  of  societies  depend 
upon  their  elementary  principles  ;  if  these  are  correct, 
conscientious  convictions  must  be  correct  also.  The  ele- 
mentary principle  of  the  Brownists  were  not  correct, 
and  thence  proceeded  those  marked  errors  which  have 
been  adverted  to  ;  were  these  principles  unchangeable, 
men's  conduct  would  be  as  fixed  as  that  of  an  inani- 
mate machine.  It  is  the  power  of  volition  that  con- 
stitutes the  man, — the  ability  to  change  those  influ- 
ences by  which  he  is  governed ;  and  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  are  embraced  the  refinement  and  advance- 
ment of  the  human  family. 

A  knowledge  of  physical  things  comes  by  observa- 
tion, but  the  spiritual  faculties  have  no  type  on  earth, 
and  are  to  be  traced  to  no  other  source  than  the  im- 
press of  the  Divine  mind  on  the  mind  of  man.  Des 
Cartes  and  Malabranche,  two  of  the  most  eminent 

10^ 


110  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

philosophers  of  the  seventeenth  century,  destroyed  their 
books,  and  rejected  authority,  that  they  might  thence 
entirely  depend  upon  their  own'  convictions  for  the 
attainment  of  truth.  The  Puritans  of  Boston  relied 
upon  books  and  upon  authority  to  gain  the  same  end. 
There  is  a  principle  of  common  sense,  of  Divine  intelli- 
gence, which  is  superior  to  all  authority.  This  the 
Brownists  rejected,  blindly  yielding  themselves  up  to 
the  government  of  laws,  adapted  to  a  different  people 
in  a  distant  age. 

The  Jews,  feeling  the  beneficent  influence  of  the 
Divine  power,  without  a  corresponding  intelligence, 
believed  themselves  to  be  a  peculiar  people,  the  espe- 
cial favorites  of  heaven.  Hence  their  extermination 
of  those  w^ho  thought  differently  from  themselves. 
A  like  influence  and  want  of  intelligence  persuaded  the 
Puritans  that  they  also  were  the  favorites  of  Heaven, 
the  true  Israel  of  God,  that  he  had  delivered  all  other 
people  into  their  hands,  and  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  Mosaic  code  and  of  the  ten  commandments  followed 
almost  as  a  matter  of  course.  They  called  it  religion, 
but  however  animating  social  communions  may  be, 
in  which  kindred  minds  seem,  as  it  were,  to  mingle  to- 
gether, every  organization  from  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim 
to  the  present  day,  let  it  bear  what  name  it  may  and 
be  established  for  what  purpose  soever,  is  but  a  civil 
compact,  created  by  the  sympathies  of  society,  and  is 
not  necessarily  religious  because  it  bears  that  name. 
It  was  from  this  system  that  the  Brownists  received 


SABBATH   DAY.  Ill 

their  bigoted  superstition.  It  was  a  system  of  types 
and  shadows,  of  forms  and  ceremonies,  the  natural 
tendency  of  which,  while  it  made  one  day  more  holy, 
was  to  profane  every  other  day  of  the  week. 

Of  course,  the  more  men  have  of  such  a  religion  as 
this,  if  religion  it  may  be  called,  the  worse  they  are  ; 
and  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  the  ministers  and 
elders  were  more  rigorous  and  severe  than  the  common 
people.  The  source  of  religion  is  in  man's  own  bosom; 
when  he  departs  from  that,  he  is  cast  afloat  on  the  great 
ocean  of  uncertainty,  and  he  takes  up  with  any  doc- 
trine which  may  coincide  with  his  own  preconceived 
opinions. 

There  are  sentiments  and  feelings  to  be  developed 
within  us,  as  exalted  as  ever  existed  in  any  other 
people.  We  refer  to  ancient  sages,  and  to  the  philoso- 
phers of  other  generations,  but  what  sources  of  truth 
had  they  that  we  have  not  ? 

The  laws  of  all  countries  necessarily  take  their 
type  from  the  character  of  the  people :  those  of  one 
nation  can  never  be  exactly  adapted  to  another,  be- 
cause no  two  were  ever  under  precisely  the  same  cir- 
cumstances. 

The  only  true  foundation  for  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  men,  is  that  sense  of  justice  and  truth 
which  can  alone  adapt  them  to  our  respective  situa- 
tions.    It  is  that  which  purifies  and  elevates  every  in- 


112  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

dividual,  so  far  as  he  adheres  to  it ;  and  as  it  elevates 
individuals,  it  perfects  nations. 

Locke,  the  great  writer  on  the  human  mind,  always 
professed  religion,  and  yet  his  doctrine  went  to  destroy 
it.  He  tra^velled  far  to  find  some  nation  destitute  of 
religious  belief,  by  which  he  could  establish  his  theory, 
but  he  found  none.  In  place  of  that  sublime  science, 
the  study  of  the  man  within,  inhabiting,  in  the  whole 
scope  of  the  intellect,  a  world  more  extensive  than 
the  world  without  us,  his  doctrine  taught  that  we  were 
to  look  to  the  senses  for  the  knowledge  of  truth,  that 
it  was  there  alone  that  it  was  to  be  found. 

It  was  this  false  principle  that  blinded  the  eyes  of 
the  Puritans,  so  that  they  were  unable  to  distinguish 
right  from  wrong.  They  thought  they  were  Christians, 
while  they  were  worse  than  barbarians. 

We  see  an  apple  fall  to  the  ground,  under  the  un- 
changing laws  of  gravity,  without  seeming  to  consider 
that  the  laws  of  mind  are  equally  immutable. 

The  Puritans  laid  claim  to  the  greatest  holiness ; 
some  of  them  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  first  Puritan.  The  good  men  among 
them  were  made  so,  not  by  what  they  called  their 
religion,  but  in  despite  of  it ;  and  this  applies  to  every 
individual  who  is  seeking  for  religion  through  the 
medium  of  the  senses.  They  advocate  the  idea  that 
there  is  nothing  in  the  mind  that  has  not  been  in  the 
senses.     This  was  the  doctrine  that  Locke  and  Hobbes,  ^ 


SABBATH    DAY,  113 

and  men  of  that  school,  tried  to  establish,  to  which 
Leibnitz,  the  German  philosopher,  made  this  reply  : 
"Nothing  except  the  intellect  itself;"  and  no  man, 
however  acute,  has  been  able  to  deny  this  position. 
But  whether  or  not,  it  has  little  bearing  to  the  practi- 
cal man,  who  may  easily  understand  that  we  can  have 
no  real  knowledge  of  truth,  virtue,  and  godliness, 
from  the  opinions  of  other  men. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Brownists  were  never  fully 
carried  out :  so  far  as  they  led  the  minds  of  men  to 
the  senses,  to  the  eye,  or  the  ear,  as  the  source  of 
truth,  they  natui^ally  led  to  the  destruction  of  all 
religion.  This  influence  was  continually  checked  by 
that  grace  of  God  which  the  priest  denied  to  be  his 
rule,  but  which  was  still  operating  to  save  them  from 
further  degradation. 

A  religion  of  ordinances  is  in  its  nature  a  persecu- 
ting religion,  and  that  of  the  Sabbath  forms  no  ex- 
ception ;  fanatical  men  use  it  to  accomplish  their  own 
selfish  purposes.  Among  the  Jews  it  was  often  di- 
verted from  a  day  of  rest  to  a  day  of  persecution ; 
thus  a  poor  man  was  stoned  to  death  for  gathering 
a  few  sticks  on  that  day,  and  Jesus  Christ  was  con- 
demned for  being  a  Sabbath-breaker.  We  have  seen 
the  effects  of  the  superstition  in  England  and  Scot- 
land ;  in  this  country,  where  the  laws  were  still  more 
severe,  the  effects  were  more  deeply  marked.  Each  of 
of  the  individual  colonies  of  New  England,  Plymouth 
Massachusetts,  New    Haven,    Connecticut,   with    the 


114  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

exception  of  Rhode  Island,  had  severe  enactments 
relative  to  the  first  day  of  the  week. 

Following  the  institutions  of  Moses,  the  first  draught 
of  the  laws  in  Massachusetts,  by  Cotton,  made  pro- 
faning the  Lord's  day  a  capital  offence.  The  punish- 
ment of  death  w^as  erased  by  Winthrop  ;  but  they 
totally  refused  to  make  any  alteration  in  that  par* 
which  forbade  persons  from  walking  in  the  streets  or 
fields  on  that  day.* 

In  Connecticut  the  laws  were  thus:  "  No  one  shall 
run  on  the  Sabbath  day,  or  walk  in  his  garden,  or 
elsewhere,  except  reverently  to  and  from  meeting." 

"  No  one  shall  travel,  cook  victuals,  make  beds, 
sweep  house,  cut  hair  or  shave  on  the  Sabbath  day." 

"  No  woman  shall  kiss  her  child  on  Sabbath  or 
fasting  days." 

"The  Sabbath  shall  begin  at  sunset  on  Saturday." 

"  If  any  man  shall  kiss  his  wife,  or  wife  her  hus- 
band, on  the  Lord's  day,  the  party  in  fault  shall  be 
punished  at  the  discretion  of  the  Court  of  Magis- 
trates', f 

At  this  period,  in  America,  and  we  may  hope  for 
the  last  time,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  the  Sabba- 
tarians controlled  the  government  of  a  State  with  un- 
disputed authority.  They  had  learning  without  intel- 
ligence,  knowledge  without  wisdom.      The  supersti- 

*Hutcliinson's  Ilist. 

f  Blue  Laws,  pp.  206,  122  and  130. 


SABBATH   DAY.  115 

tion  which  enacted  these  laws,  acted  and  re-acted 
upon  itself,  and  its  fruits,  and  those  resulting  from  a 
strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  were  directly  at 
variance  with  the  promises  that  are  now  held  forth  by 
the  Sabbatarians,  and  to  which  we  have  heretofore  re- 
ferred. The  facts  are  so  curious  and  conclusive,  as 
to  be  worthy  of  a  calm  and  attentive  consideration. 

These  Sabbath  laws,  interfering  as  they  did  with  the* 
inherent  rights  of  man,  and  with  that  divine  harmony 
which  is  essential  to  his  well-being  on  earth,  were  con- 
nected with  the  most  bitter  and  unrelenting  persecu- 
tions. In  less  than  ten  years  from  the  settlement  of 
Boston,  Roger  Williams,  one  of  their  own  ministers 
of  Salem,  was  persecuted,  and  had  to  flee  the  colony 
for  his  opinions  upon  baptism ;  and  Anne  Hutchinson, 
a  woman  of  superior  abilities,  tinctured  with  Antino- 
mian  doctrine,  was  charged  with  holding  meetings  in 
her  own  house,  and  was  banished  among  the  Indians, 
where  she  was  murdered  with  nearly  all  her  family. 

Yane,  the  fourth  Governor,  an  Independent,  Cod- 
dington,  "VYinthrop,  and  others.  Episcopalians,  soon 
followed.  Coddington,  in  a  letter  to  Ralph  Fretful, 
says,  that  he  with  other  magistrates  resisted  the  power 
of  the  priests  for  several  days,  to  save  Hutchinson  and 
Wheelwright ;  at  length,  he  says,  the  priests  got  the 
ascendency,  they  were  condemned  ;*  many  others  left 
the  colony. 

Some  Baptists  who  came  from  Rhode  Island  to  visit 

"^  Besse's  SuJBferings  of  the  Quakers, 


116  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

a  sick  friend,  and  held  a  prayer-meeting  in  the  house, 
were  publicly  whipped  for  the  offence ;  and  it  does  not 
appear  that  any  of  the  sects  that  came  in  contact  with 
the  Brownists,  of  Boston,  escaped  Avith  impunity. 

Men  were  fined  for  not  attending  their  churches, 
and  whipped  if  unwilling  to  pay  their  fines. 

By  an  act,  dated  so  early  as  1647,  a  person  only 
suspected  of  Popery  was  to  be  banished,  and  if  he 
returned,  was  liable  to  be  hung. 

In  the  year  1600,  by  another  law,  the  penalty 
against  the  Papists  was  "perpetual  imprisonment  or 
death,"  and  it  allowed  those  who  were  suspected  to 
be  apprehended  "without  warrant."*  The  Catholics 
kept  out  of  the  colony,  and  escaped  the  penalty. 

The  law  against  the  Quakers  was  still  more  severe ; 
not  only  were  they  banished  upon  pain  of  death, 
but  the  most  cruel  indignities  and  sufferings  were 
heaped  upon  them ;  the  tools  of  the  mechanic  were 
taken  from  him ;  the  plow  and  the  oxen  were  seized 
at  the  moment  when  the  farmer  was  putting  in  his 
seed  or  taking  in  his  harvest;  the  cow  that  gave 
nourishment  to  the  little  children  was  taken  away, 
and  the  cattle  from  the  field  to  pay  fines,  which  they 
had  no  right  to  impose.  A  law  was  passed  authoriz- 
ing not  only  stripping  and  scourging  men  and  women 
in  the  open  streets,  but  cutting  off  their  ears  and 
boring  their  tongues  for  no  other  crime  than  being 
Quakers.  Hored  Gardner,  a  Friend  from  Rhode 
^Elot's  Massachusetts  Laws,  p.  134,  quoted  by  White. 


SABBATH    DAY.  117 

Island,  was  publicly  whipped,  and  no  protection  was 
given  to  her  poor  innocent  infant  clinging  to  her 
breast  but  the  arms  of  its  agonized  mother. 

These  were  the  tender  mercies  of  a  Sabbath-day 
religion.  After  she  had  thus  suffered,  she  knelt  down 
and  prayed  for  her  persecutors,  and  this  was  deemed 
fanaticism. 

We  would  willingly  give  to  our  forefathers  the  bene- 
fit of  an  apology  which  they  often  claim,  that  these 
peculiar  hardships  of  the  Quakers  were  the  result  of 
their  own  extravagant  behaviour.  As  they  claim  it,  it 
is  not  true.  The  first  Quakers  that  came  to  New 
England,  were  Mary  Fisher  and  Anne  Austin. 
"While  yet  on  ship-board,  before  they  had  had  the 
opportunity  to  commit  any  overt  act  whatever,  they 
were  arrested,  were  brought  on  shore  by  an  officer  de- 
puted for  the  purpose,  taken  to  prison,  their  books 
and  papers  seized  and  ordered  to  be  burned  by  the 
hangman,  and  they  to  be  transported  out  of  the 
colony.  This  was  the  first  salutation  which  the 
Quakers  received.  The  order  signed  by  the  Governor 
and  Lieutenant-Governor,  directed  the  jailor  to  open 
their  trunks  and  chests  as  often  as  he  thought  neces- 
sary. 

A  still  greater  indignity  was  offered  them ;  they 
were  stripped  to  a  state  of  nudity  and  examined  to 
discover  whether  they  had  teats,  tokens  by  which 
they  could  nourish  witches.     And  this,  it  will  be  ob- 

11 


118  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

served,  was  before  these  or  any  other  Quakers  had 
committed  any  act  whatever  in  the  colony. 

At  this  period,  the  whole  moral  atmosphere,  both 
of  Old  England  and  Xew  England,  was  tinctui'ed 
with  fanaticism,  and  the  Quakers  certainly  did  not 
escape  the  infection.  Yet  the  fanaticism  of  the 
Quakers  was  an  infringement  of  morals,  the  fanaticism 
of  other  Puritans  was  manifested  in  the  abridgement 
of  the  civil  and  relicjious  ricrhts  of  man.  The  fanati- 
cism  of  the  Quakers  of  New  England  never  manifested 
itself  till  after  they  had  been  goaded  on  almost  to 
madness  by  intense  sufferino^s ;  after  these  cruelties 
had  been  continued  for  a  period  of  nine  years,  two,  as 
it  was  stated,  innocent  and  modest  women  appeared 
partially  unclothed,  one  in  the  congregation  of  New- 
bm-y,  the  other  in  the  streets  of  Salem,  taking  this 
mode  almost  in  fits  of  desperation,  as  they  declared, 
to  testify  against  the  cruelty  and  immodesty  of  the 
authorities,  in  stripping  and  whipping  females  in  the 
public  streets.  One  woman  appeared  with  blackened 
face,  clothed  in  sack-cloth  and  ashes,  to  foretell  the 
appearance  of  the  black-pox  among  them.  These 
were  the  excesses  that  were  committed.  There  were 
other  trifling  offences  with  which  they  were  charged. 
Like  the  members  of  the  Third  Estate  in  the  French 
National  Assembly,  they  declined  pulling  off  their 
hats,  to  make  obeisance  to  men  whom  they  considered 


SABBATH    DAY.  119 

110  better  than  themselves,  and  this  was  deemed  a 
great  crime. 

Their  only  real  offence  was  that  they  were  Quakers, 
and  their  sufferings  were  the  result  of  pure  unmixed 
bigotry,  intolerance  and  superstition. 

The  general  law  of  the  province  says  of  the  Quakers 
that  "  they  frequented  meetings  of  their  own,  in  op- 
position to  our  church  order  " — that  "  they  held  horrid 
opinions" — that  ''they  denied  the  established  forms 
of  worship " — and  w^ere  "in  opposition  to  the  or- 
thodox opinions  of  the  godly."*  This  is  the  sum 
of  all  the  charges  w^hich  were  made  against  the 
Quakers,  and  for  which  they  were  made  to  suffer  so 
severely. 

As  a  matter  of  true  history,  I  subjoin  two  warrants, 
which  will  speak  for  themselves. 

Boston,  September  16th,  1668. 
"  To  the  Marshal-General,  or  to  his  Deputy  :  You 
are  to  take  with  you  the  Executioner,  and  to  repair 
to  the  House  of  Correction,  and  there  see  him  cut  off 
the  right  ears  of  John  Copeland,  Christopher  Holder 
and  John  Rouse,  Quakers,  in  execution  of  the  sen- 
tence of  the  Court  of  Assistants,  for  the  breach  of 
the  law  entitled  Quakers." 

"Edward  Rawson,  Secretary.'' 

"  To  the  Constables  of  Dover,  Hampton,  Salisbury, 

*  See  "An  Act  made  at  a  General  Court,  held  at  Boston,  the 
20th  of  October,  1658. 


120  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

Newbury,  Rowley,  Ipswich,  Wenham,  Lynn,  Boston, 
Roxbury,  Dedham  ;  and  until  these  vagabond  Quakers 
are  carried  out  of  this  jurisdiction,  you  and  every  of 
you  are  required,  in  the  King's  Majesty's  name,  to 
take  these  vagabond  Quakers,  Anne  Coleman,  Mary 
Tomkins  and  Alice  Ambrose,  and  make  them  fast  to 
the  cart  tail,  and,  driving  the  cart  through  your 
several  towns,  to  whip  them  upon  their  naked  backs, 
not  exceeding  ten  stripes  apiece  on  each  of  them,  in 
each  town,  and  so  to  convey  them,  from  constable  to 
constable,  till  they  are  out  of  this  jurisdiction,  as  you 
shall  answer  it  at  your  peril,  and  this  shall  be  your 
warrant.     Per  me,* 

"RicHAED  Warden." 

"Dover,  Dec.  22nd,  1662." 

Thus  through  the  fiery  zeal  of  these  Puritans, 
these  tender  women  were  to  be  whipped  through  eleven 
towns,  a  distance  of  80  miles.  The  account  says,  that 
on  a  very  cold  day  they  were  stripped  naked,  from 
the  middle  upwards,  and  tied  to  a  cart,  and  whipped, 
while  the  priest  looked  on  and  laughed.  The  sentence 
was  executed  through  several  towns,  carrying  them 
through  dirt  and  snow  half  leg  deep,  till  a  clerk  of 
one  of  the  courts  had  the  independence  to  say,  "I  am 
here  to  see  your  wickedness  and  cruelty,  that,  if  you 
kill  these  women,  I  may  be  able  to  testify  against  you." 
The  only  opposition  to  their  release  seems  to  have 
been  from  John  Wheelright,  the  priest,  who  advised 
^Sewcl's  Hist. 


SABBATH    BAY.  121 

tlie  constable  to  drive  on  as  his  safest  way.  Soon 
after*  which,  another  priest  said  to  them,  "Ye  have 
spoken  well,  and  prayed  well — pray  what  is  your 
rule  ?"  They  replied,  "  The  spirit  of  God  is  our  rule, 
and  it  ought  to  be  thine,  and  all  men's  to  walk  by :" 
to  which  he  replied,  "  It  is  not  my  rule,  and  I  hope 
never  will  be."* 

In  England,  calling  religion  to  their  aid,  they  held 
a  prayer  meeting  of  five  hours'  continuance, f  to  ascer- 
tain, as  they  pretended,  whether  they  should  cut  off 
King  Charles'  head  or  not.  The  answer  was  accord- 
ing to  their  own  prejudices,  and  the  king  was  beheaded. 
They  then  thought  it  honorable  to  resist  the  arbitrary 
power  of  the  king;  but  it  was  quite  another  affair 
when  the  Quakers  objected  to  their  own  arbitrary 
proceedings,  and  asked  for  liberty  of  conscience  for 
themselves. 

They  executed  the  king  for  objecting  to  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  the  Quakers,  for  pleading  for  it. 
There  was  no  charge  of  immoral  conduct  against 
them  ;  they  were  persons  estimable  in  every  way, 
but  they  had  this  unpardonable  sin  to  answer  for — 
that  their  faith  differed  from  that  of  the  Brownists  ; 
and  for  this  alone  they  were  hurried  into  the  prisons, 
and  condemned  to  death. 

I  copy  these  words  from  the  warrant :  "  Because 
it  appears  by  their  own  confession,  words,  and  actions, 

*  Hutchinson's  History.        f  D'Israeli's  History  of  Chailes  I. 
11* 


122  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

that  they  are  Quakers,  wherefore  a  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced against  them  to  depart  this  jurisdiction  on 
pain  of  death."*  One  of  these  was  Mary  Dyer,  a 
pious  and  exemplary  woman,  who  came  from  Rhode 
Island.  On  going  to  the  gallows,  she  used  these 
words :  "  No  eye  can  see,  no  ear  can  hear,  no  tongue 
can  utter,  and  no  heart  can  understand  the  sweet  in- 
comes or  influence,  and  the  refreshings  of  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord,  which  now  I  feel." 

After  her  two  friends  had  been  hung  beside  her, 
the  halter  put  about  her  neck,  and  her  face  covered 
with  a  handkerchief,  she  was  reprieved  at  the  inter- 
cession of  her  son,  and  the  next  day  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing letter : 

28^A  of  the  6th  3fo.  1G59. 
"  Once  more  to  the  General  Court,  assembled  in 
Boston,  speaks  Mary  Dyer,  even  as  before :  My  life 
is  not  accepted,  neither  availeth  me,  in  comparison 
of  the  lives  and  liberty  of  the  truth,  and  servants  of 
the  living  God,  for  which,  in  the  bowels  of  love  and 
meekness,  I  sought  you :  yet,  nevertheless,  with 
wicked  hands  have  you  put  two  of  them  to  death, 
which  makes  me  feel,  that  the  mercies  of  the  wicked 
is  cruelty ;  I  rather  choose  to  die  than  to  live  as  from 
you,  as  guilty  of  their  innocent  blood:  Therefore, 
seeing  my  request  is  hindered,  I  leave  you  to  the 
righteous  Judge  and  Searcher  of  all  hearts,  who,  with 
'^  Sewel's  History  of  the  Quakers. 


SABBATH   DAY.  123 

the  pure  measure  of  light  he  hath  given  to  every  man 
to  profit  withal,  will,  in  due  time,  let  you  see  whose 
servants  you  are,  and  of  whom  you  have  taken  coun- 
sel, which  I  desire  you  to  search  into."  All  these 
appeals  were  vain — Mary  Dyer  was  hung.* 

Two  others,  who  were  first  sentenced  with  her  and 
executed,  were  Marmaduke  Stephenson,  a  respectable 
countryman  of  Yorkshire,  and  William  Robinson,  a 
merchant  of  London.  Robinson  being  a  man  of  learn- 
ing, the  offence  was  deemed  the  greater,  and  he  was 
first  condemned  to  be  severely  whipped,  the  constable 
being  "  commanded  to  procure  an  able-bodied  man 
for  the  purpose." 

The  fourth  victim  was  William  Leddra.  He  was 
kept  in  a  cold  prison  during  the  winter,  chained  to  a 
log  of  wood,  and  on  his  trial  he  was  brought  into 
court  with  his  chains  and  the  log  at  his  heels. 
The  charges  against  him  were,  "  that  he  owned  those 
Quakers  that  were  put  to  death,  and  that  they  were 
innocent;"  "that  he  would  not  put  off  his  hat  in 
court;"  "that  he  said  thee  and  thou."  Leddra  re- 
plied: "Will  you  put  me  to  death  for  breathing  the 
air  of  your  jurisdiction  ?     I  appeal  to   the   laws  of 

*  The  son  of  Mary  Dyer  came  to  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  her 
descendants  are  among  the  most  respectable  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States.  The  children  of  Louis  M'Lane,  late  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  are  her  descendants  in  the  seventh  descending  line. 
Also  Judge  Milligan,  of  Delaware.  Some  of  her  personal  trinkets 
still  remain  in  the  family. 


124  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

England.  If  by  tlicm  I  am  guilty,  I  refuse  not  to 
die." 

Tlicy  took  no  notice  of  his  request,  but  endeavored 
to  persuade  him  to  recant  his  error,  to  which,  as  the 
account  saith,  "  with  grave  magnanimity  he  replied," 
"  What !  to  join  with  such  murderers  as  you  are  ? 
Then  let  every"  man  that  meets  me  say,  Lo,  this  is 
the  man  that  hath  forsaken  the  God  of  his  salvation!" 

The  day  before  Leddra's  execution,  he  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  his  friends,  beginning  with  these  beautiful  words  : 

3Iost  dear  and  inwardJy  hcloved : — The  sweet  in- 
fluences of  the  morning  star,  like  a  flood,  distilling 
into  my  innocent  habitation,  hath  so  filled  me  with 
the  joy  of  the  Lord,  in  the  beauty  of  holiness,  that 
my  spirit  is  as  if  it  did  not  inhabit  a  tabernacle  of 
clay,  but  is  wholly  swallowed  up  in  the  bosom  of  eter- 
nity, from  whence  it  had  its  being."* 

The  innocent  character  of  these  victims  is  material, 
to  show  the  unmixed  nature  of  that  bigotry  which  was 
the  result  of  principles  of  intolerance,  called  religion, 
one  of  the  prominent  traits  of  which  was  a  strict  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath  day. 

The  fifth  Quaker  who  was  condemned  to  death  in 
Boston,  was  Wenlock  Christison.  His  execution  was 
prevented  by  a  mandamus  from  the  king,  forbidding 
them  to  proceed.  It  was  brought  to  Boston  by  a 
ship-load  of  Quakers,  and  came  from  a  quarter  alto- 
*  Sewel's  History,  p.  2GG,  '2G7. 


SABBATH    DAY.  125 

gother  unexpected  ;  the  colonists  sent  a  deputation  to 
the  king  to  avert  his  anger,  but  wisely  concluded  to  obey 
his  authority,  and  Christison,  and  twenty-seven  of  his 
friends  who  were  imprisoned,  were  immediately^released. 

Bancroft,  alluding  to  this  transaction,  has  the  ten- 
derness to  ascribe  it  to  a  conviction  of  the  magistrates 
of  their  eiTor.  (See  1st  vol.  p.  458.)  It  was  the  man- 
damus that  convinced  them,  and  it  led  to  a  curious 
piece  of  etiquette.  The  King's  messenger  was  a 
Quaker.  Endicott,  the  governor,  not  knowing  his 
business,  directed  that  his  hat  should  be  taken  off. 
On  learning  that  he  was  a  King's  messenger,  he  or- 
dered his  hat  to  be  given  to  him,  and  immediately  pulled 
off  his  own,  in  deference  to  royal  authority.  These  were 
the  first  and  last  capital  convictions  in  the  English 
Colonies  of  America,  for  opinions  respecting  religion. 

It  will  be  naturally  asked,  what  right  these  persons 
had  to  impose  themselves  upon  the  government,  and 
subject  themselves  to  such  cruel  laws.  To  this  it  may 
be  replied, — precisely  the  same  right  as  their  perse- 
cutors. In  some  parts  of  the  colony  there  were  a 
large  number  of  Quaker  settlers.  In  the  town  of 
Sandwich,  nigh  unto  Plymouth,  nearly  the  whole 
population  were  Quakers ;  they  had  a  perfect  right  to 
be  there ;  the  charter  gave  to  the  Brownists  no  pecu- 
liar privileges  ;  they  were  not)  an  independent  body, 
had  no  authority  to  exclude  the  Quakers,  or  to  subject 
them  to   indignities  of  any  kind,  yet  the  latter  could 


120  iNSTrniTroN  of  the 

not  liold  ;x  religious  lucoting  after  their  own  manner, 
•without  being  subjected  to  excessive  fines  ;  and  these 
Quakers  who  forfeited  their  lives,  asked  from  their 
persecutors  a  repeal  of  these  unrighteous  laws.  They 
were  the  champions  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
They  were  buried  in  Boston  common,  wliere  it  is  pre- 
sumed their  remains  now  repose,  and  ilio  friends  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty  might  here  erect  a,  monu- 
ment to  their  memory.  Edward  Shippen,  at  the  time 
Mayor  of  Philadelphia,  a  highly  respectable  man,  and 
from  whom  many  estimable  families  are  descended, 
and  who  was  twice  publicly  whipped  in  Boston  for 
being  a  Quaker,  applied  to  the  authorities  for  liberty 
to  erect  some  token  to  their  memory ;  he  found  the 
spot,  but  his  rec^uest  was  refused,  and  he  was  only 
permitted  to  place  in  the  ground  two  posts.  Tradition 
may  still  point  out  where  their  remains  rest. 

These  executions  were  believed  to  be  clear  cases 
of  murder,  being  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England ; 
two  of  the  actors  in  the  tragedy,  on  going  to  England, 
found  it  necessary  to  secrete  themselves  from  the 
father  of  Robinson,  who  was  not  a  Quaker,  in  order 
to  save  themselves  from  a  public  indictment. 

The  execution  of  tlie  Quakers  was  a  crisis  in  New 
England  affairs  ;  the  English  mind  was  shocked  at 
the  barbarity,  and  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
calling  themselves  "your  poor  Mephibosheths,"  came 
"kneeling"  before  the  king,  whom  they  called  "most 


SABBATH   DAY.  127 

gracious  and  dread  sovereign,"  supplicating  him  that 
their  civil  privileges  and  patent  might  not  be  taken 
from  them.  Their  dread  sovereign  granted  them  a 
charter,  but  it  was  altogether  a  different  afitxir  from 
what  they  had  heretofore  had;  it  secured  liberty  of 
conscience  to  all  except  Papists ;  and  as  the  mandamus 
in  favor  of  the  Quakers  was  brought  to  the  colony  by 
a  Quaker  messenger,  this  charter  was  brought  by  a 
reverend  gentleman  of  the  Church  of  England,  with 
his  surplice  and  common  prayer-book,  which  had  here- 
tofore given  such  horror  to  the  Puritans. 

Thus  through  the  power  of  the  king  and  the  sacri- 
fice of  her  life,  Mary  Dyer's  prayer  was  answered, — 
"  I  will  not  accept  my  life  at  your  hands  until  you 
repeal  yom-  unrighteous  laws."  The  laws  were  re- 
pealed, and  the  Episcopalians,  after  being  banished  from 
the  colony,  were  enabled  to  establish  their  regular 
service  in  Boston ;  the  Baptists  were  no  longer  in 
dread  of  the  whipping  post,  in  coming  to  visit  their 
sick  friends;  ears  were  no  longer  cut  off,  nor 
tongues  bored ;  innocent  women  were  in  no  fear  of 
being  stripped  and  whipped  through  the  streets  of 
Boston,  tied  to  carts'  tails,  and  the  Quakers  were  per- 
mitted, from  that  time  forward,  to  hold  their  meetings 
in  peace  ;  thus  was  the  triumph  of  the  constancy  of 
the  Quakers  accomplished ;  and  it  may  be  added,  that 
the  fanaticism  of  the  Quakers  themselves  ended  with 
the  occasion  which  had  called  it  forth. 

These  are  believed  to  be  the  truths  of  history,  and  it 


128  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

is  apparent  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  at  the 
present  day,  are  still  feeling  the  benefits  of  the  con- 
stancy and  heroic  martyrdom  of  the  despised  anti-Sah- 
bath  Quakers;  they  gained  a  freedom  which  they  had 
never  before  enjoyed,  with  that  expansion  of  mind  which 
was  its  necessary  consequence.  Though  superstition 
was  too  deeply  ingrafted  in  their  system  to  be  at  once 
done  away,  yet  a  higher  degree  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  than  they  had  heretofore  known,  was  at  once 
bestowed  upon  the  colony. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  into  the  subject  of 
the  right  of  the  Quakers  to  settle  in  the  colony,  fur- 
ther than  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  facts. 
The  Great  Charter  of  England  contains  these  words  : 
Eirst.     "  Every  Englishman  is  born  free." 
Fourth.     "  No  freeman  shall  be  outlawed." 
Fifth.     "No  freeman  shall  be  exiled." 
Seventh.     "  No  freeman  shall  be  taken,  imprisoned, 
dissiesed,  ^utlawedy  exiled,   or   be  destroyed  of  his 
liberties,  freeholds,  and  free  customs,  but  by  the  law- 
ful judgment  of  his  peers." 

These  are  the  words  of  the  great  charter  of  English 
liberty;  and  to  give  solemnity  to  the  act,  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  of  England,  apparelled  in  high 
pontificals,  with  tapers  bm-ning,  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the 
blessed  apostles,  and  all  martyrs,  accm^sed  in  advance 
all  those  who  should  break  this  charter  of  English 
liberties. 


SABBATH    DAY.  129 

We  turn  next  to  the  royal  charter,  as  granted  to 
the  Massachusetts  colony.  We  give  nearly  its  own 
words,  as  taken  from  Story's  Commentaries,  page  21. 
"All  subjects  of  the  Crown,  who  shall  become  in- 
habitants of  the  colony,  shall  enjoy  all  the  liberties 
and  immunities  ot  the  natural  subjects  of  England." 
Again ;  they  were  permitted  to  enact  laws  and  ordi- 
nances: "  So  as  such  laws  and  ordinances  be  not  con- 
trary or  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  this 
our  realm  of  England." 

If  these  enactments  are  true,  then  it  must  be  evident 
that  these  Quakers  had  the  same  rights  in  the  colony 
as   their   persecutors.      If    the   Puritans    of    Great 
Britain  are  to  be  honored  for  successfully  resisting 
the  power  of  the  Crown,  and  for  their  contests  with 
bigoted  and  [ignorant  church  hierarchies,  still  more 
the  anti-Sabbath  Quakers  of  New  England  should  be 
honored,  for  resisting  a  church  hierarchy  as  appalling 
and  cruel  as  any  that  was  met  with  in  the  old  country. 
It  was  not  alone  against  the  schismatics  in  religion 
that  the  zeal  of  the  Puritans  was  directed.     Children 
of  tender  age  were   believed  to   be  possessed  with 
devils,  and  nineteen  persons  were  publicly  executed 
in  Massachusetts  for  witchcraft,  protesting  their  in- 
nocence. 

Herein,  too,  they  neglected  common  sense,  to  be 
guided  by  authority.  Moses  had  said,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  suffer  a  witch  to  live;"  and  they  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  finding  subjects.     Little  childi^en  from  nine 

II 


130  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

to  ten  years  of  age  Tvere  suffered  to  give  evidence 
against  their  parents,  and  women  testified  before  the 
Coui't,  that  they  had  gone  to  witch  meetings  on  broom- 
sticks, riding  through  the  au\  It  is  well  said  by 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  his  Life  of  Washington, — - 
"Never  was  there  given  a  more  melancholy  proof  of 
the  degree  of  depravity  always  to  be  counted  upon 
when  the  public  passions  countenance  crime. ''"^  Were 
these  people  enlightened  by  their  rigid  Sabbaths,  their 
abundant  fasts,  and  ostentatious  religious  displays  ? 
The  conduct  of  the  Brownists  to  the  poor  unhappy 
Indians  was  marked  by  a  cruelty  which  was  unknown 
in  any  other  of  the  colonies.  By  forced  treaties  and 
treachery,  they  separated  the  Pequods  from  the  Nar- 
ragansetts,  and  then  destroyed  both  in  detail.  Men, 
women,  and  childi'en,  were  butchered  or  bm-ned  in 
their  wigwams,  in  the  most  revolting  manner.  In 
Philip,  the  Sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,  they  found  a 
man  of  reno-^Ti  and  high  spirit,  worthy  of  their  con- 
fidence. He  was  hunted  like  a  wild  beast,  shot 
down,  his  body  quartered  and  hung  upon  poles,  while 
his  head  was  carried  to  Plymouth  as  a  trophy,  and 
there  exhibited  as  a  cm-iosity  for  twenty  years  ;  and 
his  son,  a  child  only  nine  years  of  age,  was  doomed 
to  death  in  cold  blood,  and  received  banishment  and 
slavery  as  a  boon.  Canonicus  was  the  Grand  Sachem 
of  the  Narragansetts,  when  the  English  landed  at 

*  Note  5  to  first  vol.  Life  of  Washington. 


SABBATH    DAY.  131 

Plymouth.  Roger  AVilliams  calls  him  a  wise  and 
peaceable  prince.  He  told  Williams,  "  I  have  never 
suffered  any  -wTong  to  be  offered  to  the  English.  If 
Englishman  speak  true,  if  he  mean  tridy,  then  shall  I 
go  to  my  grave  in  peace."  The  Englishman  did  not 
speak  true ;  Miantinomi,  his  nephew,  who  succeeded 
him,  was  captured  and  executed,  and  Canonchet,  the 
son  of  the  brave  but  unfortunate  Miantinomi,  was  the 
last  Sachem  of  his  race.  He  was  offered  his  life  by 
the  English,  upon  the  condition  that  he  would  treat 
for  the  submission  of  his  subjects;  this  he  indignantly 
rejected,  and  he  was  condemned  to  death  for  the 
crime  of  defending  his  country.  When  this  sentence 
was  announced  to  him,  he  replied  in  these  heroic 
words :  "  I  like  it  well  that  I  shall  die  before  my 
heart  grows  soft,  or  that  I  have  said  any  thing  un- 
worthy of  myself."  These  were  the  men  who  had  the 
unhappiness  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  New  England  Puri- 
tans. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  friendly  Indians,  who  had 
claimed  and  received  the  promise  of  protection,  were 
marched  from  old  Dartmouth,  now  in  part  New  Bed- 
ford, to  Plymouth,  where  they  were  embarked  and 
sold  as  slaves.  Thirty  were  carried  out  into  Boston 
Bay,  and  thrown  into  the  sea ;  two  were  pm'sued  and 
murdered  by  the  women  of  Marblehead,  who  dis- 
covered them  as  they  came  from  chm'ch.* 

*  See  Hutchinson's  History  ;  Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  book 
2,  106  ;  Felt's  Salem  ;  Quite's  Puritanism,  page  420,  421. 


132  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

Two  innocent  children  of  Lawrence  Southwick,  de- 
clining to  attend  meeting  on  account  of  some  severi- 
ties to  their  parents,  were,  for  that  offence  alone,  fined 
ten  pounds,  and  having  no  visible  estates,  being  minors, 
the  General  Court,  under  an  order  signed  by  Edward 
Rawson,  Secretary,  directed  that  they  should  be  sold 
as  slaves  "  to  any  of  the  English  nations,  as  Virginia 
or  Barbadoes,  to  answer  the  said  fines."  The  exe- 
cution of  this  sentence  was  only  prevented  by  the 
greater  humanity  of  a  shipmaster,  who  refused  to 
carry  away  such  jnnocent  children. 

The  account  of  these  atrocities,  so  needful  to  a 
proper  understanding  of  the  spirit  of  Sabbath-day 
religion,  and  to  which  only  a  slight  allusion  is  made 
here,  may  w^ell  cause  the  feeling  heart  to  bleed. 

Before  the  passengers  in  the  Mayflower  had  made 
their  formal  landing  at  Plymouth,  some  of  them 
being  on  shore,  discovered  some  sepulchres  of  the 
dead,  and  a  granary  of  corn ;  these  they  rifled,  and 
gave  God  thanks  that  he  had  delivered  this  corn  into 
their  hands.*  These  acts  were  returned  by  a  shower 
of  arrows  from  the  poor  Indians.  Yet,  ridiculous  as 
it  may  appear,  the  first  day  of  the  week  occurring, 
they  deemed  it  their  duty  to  observe  it  as  a  Sabbath, 
with  great  strictness :  thus  obeying  the  written 
precepts  of  Moses,  while  they  violated  moral  integrity. 

*  Journal  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Plantation  settled  at  Ply- 
mouth. 


SABBATH    DAY.  133 

Those  who  have  read  the  pathetic  account  of  their 
embarkation,  in  Holland,  only  a  few  weeks  before', 
where  it  is  presumed  these  mdividual  men  were  pre- 
sent, and  when  the  Dutch  s2:)ectators  themselves, 
standing  on  the  shore,  were  drowned  in  tears,  and 
even  the  shore  itself  seemed  to  respond  to  their 
vows,  will  hardly  accuse  them  of  any  intentional 
wrong.  Bending  into  each  other's  arms,  they  joined 
in  solemn  prayer,  that  God  would  have  pity  on  his 
poor  children,  and  go  with  them  into  that  waste  wil- 
derness. 

These  events,  seemingly  so  different,  proceeded  not 
from  moral  turpitude,  but  were  the  necessary  conse- 
quence of  those  principles  which  had  guided  their 
life  in  other  similar  circumstances. 

Another  very  curious  illustration  of  their  character 
was  manifested  in  their  attempt  to  bribe  the  king. 
Apprehending  that  their  chartered  rights  were  en- 
dangered, agents  were  appointed,  and  according  to 
their  never-failing  practice,  they  held  a  day  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer  for  the  preservation  of  their  patent, 
and  the  success  of  the  agency.  Thus  fortified,  they 
took  another  precaution ;  with  prayers  almost  in  their 
mouths,  they  tendered  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  two 
thousand  guineas,  or  ten  thousand  dollars,  as  a  bribe, 
for  his  majesty's  private  use.  This  is  related  on  the 
unquestionable  authority  of  Chalmers,  page  461,  462. 

And  he  adds,  in   justice  to  the  other  colonies,  that 

11^== 


134  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  they  ever  employed 
similar  means.  According  to  Hutchinson,  the  bait 
took,  and  was  approved  by  the  General  Court.* 

They  justified  this  act,  also,  by  Scripture.  A  let- 
ter of  Shirley,  a  Plymouth  agent,  to  Gov.  Bradford, 
says,  in  justification  of  bribes,  "But  as  Festus  said  to 
Paul,  with  no  small  sum  obtained  I  this  freedom."* 

Even  the  civil  laws,  instead  of  being  ameliorated, 
as  might  have  been  expected  from  persons  professing 
so  much,  were  made,  in  many  cases,  more  sanguinary 
than  those  of  England,  having  incorporated  into  them 
offences  which  were  made  capital  by  the  Mosaic  code. 
"  To  blaspheme  the  name  of  God :"  '*  wilful  perjury ;" 
"to  'ponword, or  to  perform  outward  worship  to  false 
gods;"  "burglary  and  theft  on  the  Lord's  day;"  "de- 
nial of  the  books  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament,"  and 
a  variety  of  other  offences,  were  made  capital.  A 
child  over  sixteen  years  of  age,  "  who  smote  or  cm'sed 
father  or  mother,  was  to  suffer  death,"  according  to 
the  Mosaic  code.  For  the  offence  of  keeping  Christ- 
mas day,  there  was  a  fine  of  five  pounds.  See  Mas- 
sachusetts State  Papers,  page  419.  Also  Hutch- 
inson's History,  Article  Laws.  And  withal  there 
was  that  absolute  decline  in  the  public  morals  which 
we  have  heretofore  noticed  as  connected  with  the 
Sabbath  excitement  in  England  and  Scotland. 

*  Hutchinson,  vol.  i.  p.  303. 

f  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  1st  series,  vol.  iii.  70, 


SABBATH   DAY.  135 

Mather's  Magnalia,  a  book  of  unquestionable  au- 
thority, thus  describes  this  period  : — 

"  There  is  a  great  and  visible  decay  of  the  power 
of  godliness  amongst  many  professors  in  these 
churches.  It  may  be  feared  that  there  is  in  too 
many,  spiritual  and  heart  apostasy  from  God." 
"Litigious  lawsuits  have  scandalously  multiplied 
among  us;"  "many  people  have  sinned  horribly, 
upon  the  presumption  that  they^have  sinned  secretly  ;" 
"  secret  murders  have  shamefully  been  discovered 
among  us,  and  I  believe  that  there  are  yet  more  to 
be  discovered."  "There  has  been  devilish  filthiness 
committed  among  us."  "  There  have  been  church 
members  among  us,  who  have  made  no  mean  pro- 
fession of  religion;  these  have  gone  on  from  year  to 
year,  in  a  trade  of  secret  filthiness."  "  I  have 
known  some  wretched  young  men  in  several  societies, 
who  have  been  the  chief  debauchers  of  the  society 
they  belonged  unto."  Many  other  particulars  ^are 
recorded  by  Mather,  second  volume,  page  342,  etc., 
such  as  we  think  never  existed  in  any  other  of  the 
early  colonies. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  this  was  a  young  country, 
far  removed  from  the  tumults  and  vices  of  Europe, 
where,  if  anywhere,  purity  of  manners  might  be  ex- 
pected ;  yet,  so  different  are  the  facts,  that  it  may  be 
doubted  whether,  during  all  that  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  comprising  a  period  of  eighty  years, 


136  TNSTITrTrON    OF   THE 

in  Avliic'h  tlios^e  sovero  bnv^^  wore  onforcod,  tlicre  was  a 
sinirle  (lay  of*  repose  to  the  new  colonies;  and  let  it 
be  observed,  during  all  this  period,  the  strictest  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath  was  required   and   enforced. 

The  commonwealth  of  England  was  a  failure  ;  so 
also  was  the  early  government  of  Massachusetts; 
many  of  their  irrational  laws  have  been  repealed, 
others  have  become  obsolete  ])y  tlie  lapse  of  time  ;  the 
connection  between  church  and  state  has  been  dis- 
solved: and  as  these  have  successively  given  way,  the 
State  has  been  able  to  hold  a  ])osition  in  the  country 
which  it  never  could  have  obtained  under  the  old  sys- 
tem of  government.  This  contained  in  itself  the  seeds 
of  revolution  ;  had  it  not  been  subverted,  its  effect 
would  have  been  to  destroy  the  charter,  and  to  de- 
liver the  colony  to  the  Crown,  to  be  governed  by  its 
arbitrary  will.  Yet,  it  is  evident,  to  use  the  language 
of  D'Israeli,  that  the  errors  of  the  Puritans  still  breed 
in  monstrous  shapes  around  us.  The  country  has 
received  from  them  the  poison  of  an  abuse  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week.  And  all  the  thanksgivings  and 
fasts  by  law,  which  are  s})i-eading  through  the  country, 
so  childish  to  intelligent  minds,  may  be  traced  to  them. 

The  laws  still  in  force  in  New  England  contain 
the  princijde  that  "  a  religious  establishment  of  the 
Christian  Protestant  religion  and  public  worship, 
ought  to  be  maintained  by  legal  coercion."*     And 

*  Dakes  versus  Hill,  10  Pick.  Rop.  :Mr5.     Sr^e   Kent's  rornmeii- 
taries,  pigo  018. 


SAIJIJATII    DAY.  137 

Justice  Story,  with  liis  New  Eno;lan(l  predilections, 
liJiH  in  tlie  case  of  Smith  and  Sj)arrow,  4  l>in;i;ham, 
(S4,  S8,  hy  (oIl<)vvin_Li;  (Ik;  fVaiid  of  tlu;  En<^lish  judges 
intro(hi(;('d  tlio  (ylnistiaii  rcli^j^ion  into  the  American 
(-onstitution,  with  which  it  has  no  connection,  and  cut 
ofl"  tlie  (Jhinese,  who  are  now  settling  in  such  numbers 
in  California,  the  Jew,  the  Turk,  etc.,  from  those  bene- 
fits which  that  instrument  was  apparently  designed  to 
confer  upon  all.* 

^J'he  ])oor  Chinese  are  at  this  moment  suffering 
under  great  disabilities  in  California ;  their  oaths  arc 
refuse<l  in  a  court  of  justice  ;  they  cannot  sue  or  be 
sued  ;  they  are  thus  placed  out  of  the  protection  of 
the  law,  and  at  the  mercy  of  every  unprincipled  ad- 
venturer who  finds  it  his  interest  to  rob  them ;  and 
yet,  as  a  whole,  they  arc  known  to  be  industrious, 
and  are  believed  to  be  a  wortliy  and  good  people. 

These  things  arise  from  the  sectarian  bias  of  judges, 
and  for  which  their  learning,  great  soever  as  it  may 
be,  is  no  compensation.  The  spirit  of  the  Christian 
religion  enters  into  the  human  mind,  and  thus  per- 
vades all  our  institutions.  Jt  is  not  subject  to  the 
control  of  men.  It  is  beneficent  and  elevating  in  its 
nature.  Sectarian  Christianity  is  Sabbath  Chris- 
tianity,-— persecuting,  intolerant,  and  narrow-minded, 
and  never  was  designed  to  make  any  ]:)art  of  our  laws. 
'^Po  make    religion   (h'jx'ndcnt   u{)on    Imw,  would  be  to 

■^"  Soc  JclVcrsnn't!  Iclter  lo  {/fulwiitjclil. 


138  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

impair  it,  if  that  were  possible.  It  is  only  within 
the  present  century  that  intolerant  religious  distinc- 
tions have  been  removed  from  the  Constitutions  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and  that  not  with- 
out severe  and  long  continued  struggles. 

In  whatever  country  the  religious  element  shall  be 
most  exalted,  free  from  dogmas,  and  sects,  and  Sab- 
baths, that  country  will  be  most  elevated  in  science, 
in  the  arts,  in  whatever  is  noble  or  good  in  the  char- 
acter of  man.  Schools  and  colleges  cannot  furnish 
this ;  on  the  contrary,  as  at  present  established,  they 
retard  it ;  all  the  good  that  they  do  is  in  the  primary 
instruction  of  youth,  and  w^e  are  not  disposed  to  un- 
dervalue this,  yet  it  is  not  a  compensation  for  the  de- 
rangement of  society,  resulting  from  the  inculcation 
of  those  principles  which  were  so  injurious  to  the 
Brownists,  in  the  early  history  of  the  colony.  They 
have,  indeed,  abandoned  the  Mosaic  code ;  the  Jewish 
laws  are  not  held  to  be  binding  upon  them,  but  their 
divinity  schools  send  forth  yearly  hundreds  of  what 
they  call  pious  young  men,  as  we  may  believe,  with 
every  good  intention,  but  deeply  imbued  with  that 
idolatry,  which,  though  different  in  character  from 
that  of  their  forefathers,  is  in  spirit  essentially  the 
same.  Though  these  things  fail,  yet  there  is  no 
cause  of  despair ;  but  there  is  cause  for  earnest  in- 
quiry by  intelligent  minds,  whether  more  correct 
elementary  principles  will  not  slowly  but  surely,  in 


SABBATH    DAY.  139 

despite  of  all  influences  that  may  be  brought  against 
them,  produce,  as  their  inevitable  result,  a  higher  civi- 
lization, and  an  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  so- 
ciety. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   QUAKERS. 

The  foregoing  chapter  fui-nishes  some  imperfect 
sketches  of  the  most  remarkable  events  in  the  colo- 
nial history  of  this  country.  Many  of  them  bear  the 
character  of  religious  movements.  How  far  they 
may  have  been  the  effect  of  a  genuine,  but  mistaken 
endeavor  to  do  right,  no  man  can  determine.  Religion 
is  alluded  to  in  these  pages,  in  its  popular  sense. 
Though  superstition  may  always  be  considered  a  bur- 
den upon  society,  a  source  of  unhappiness  to  indi- 
viduals, and  often  productive  of  the  most  dreadful 
evils,  yet  it  would  be  presumptuous  to  deny,  on  this 
ground,  genuine  piety  to  the  Brownists,  or  to  claim 
it  for  others  who  adhere  to  a  more  philosophical  and 
simple  profession  of  faith.  The  cause  of  superstition 
in  individual  minds  is  not  easily  traced ;  the  facts  be- 
fore us  demonstrate,  and  it  is  sufficient  for  our  argu- 
ment, that  the  enactment  of  severe  Sabbath  laws,  and 


140  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

a  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  are  not  calculated 
to  refine  society.  They  also  prove  that  the  morals  of 
society  have  not  been  degraded,  where  the  day  has 
not  been  considered  more  holy  than  other  days,  but 
the  reverse ;  for  this  obvious  reason,  that  every  su- 
perstition is  injurious  to  the  morals  and  well-being 
of  man.  On  the  one  hand,  there  is  a  religion  of 
ceremonies,  deriving  its  authority  from  the  Jewish 
code,  of  which  the  Brownists  were  the  type ;  on  the 
other,  a  professedly  spiritual  religion,  founded  on  man's 
own  convictions,  the  type  of  which  is  the  Quakers. 

No  one  has  yet  penetrated  the  power  of  the 
spiritual  element  in  man.  We  witness  the  influence 
of  the  same  Divine  power  in  things  around  us.  The 
trees  bud  and  bring  forth  their  fruit ;  they  toil  not, 
neither  do  they  spin,  yet  they  are  arrayed  in  a  glory 
greater  than  that  of  Solomon.  Inasmuch  as  man, 
according  to  his  capacity,  is  penetrated  with  the  same 
influence,  he  also  may  be  supposed  to  attain  perfec- 
tion according  to  his  nature. 

Of  the  innumerable  organizations  which  bear  the 
name  of  Christ,  we  know  of  but  one,  that  rejecting 
all  Sabbaths  and  festal  days,  all  forms  and  ceremo- 
nies, except  such  as  may  be  needful  to  accomplish 
the  ends  of  existence,  maintains  the  sufficiency  of  the 
power  of  God  in  the  soul,  to  make  men  wise  in  this 
life,  and  to  prepare  them  for  a  union  and  communion 
with  the  spirits  of  the  just  in  the  world  to  come. 


SABBATH   DAY.  141 

Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  says : 

'•'  The  rise  of  the  people  called  Quakers,  is  one  of 
the  memorable  events  in  the  history  of  man.  It 
marks  the  moment  when  intellectual  freedom  was 
claimed  by  the  people  as  an  inalienable  birthright. 
The  principles  of  the  Quakers  contained  amoral  revolu- 
tion. If  it  flattered  self-love,  and  fed  enthusiasm,  it 
also  established  absolute  freedom  of  mind,  trod  every 
idolatry  under  foot,  and  entered  the  strongest  protest 
against  the  forms  of  a  hierarchy." 

Words  can  hardly  be  more  true  than  those  of  Ban- 
croft. George  Fox  says,  "  Our  religion  stands  wholly 
out  of  that,  which  all  their  religion  stands  in."  Ad- 
dress to  the  Royal  Society.  And  Penington, — ''  Our 
religion  stands  in  a  principle  that  changes  the  mind." 

The  religion  of  the  Quakers,  in  their  palmy  days, 
stood  in  its  own  power,  and  had  in  it  a  strength 
which  no  other  doctrine  could  impart ;  it  was  a  doc- 
trine of  individualism,  the  first  principle  of  which 
was  obedience  to  God — that  man  should  first  know 
himself,  his  wants  and  capacities,  that  he  might  thence 
be  qualified  to  understand  the  wants  and  capacities  of 
others.  It  was  in  itself,  a  charter  of  human  rights, 
superior  to  all  written  precepts,  and  embraced  the 
very  spirit  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

It  seems,  even  at  this  late  day,  when  the  subject 
of  organization  has  been  deeply  studied,  not  to  be 
sufficiently  understood,  that   the  successful  develop- 

12 


142  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

ment  of  every  organization  depends  upon  the  har- 
mony of  its  parts.  The  governments  of  Europe  rely 
upon  the  sword,  to  reconcile  their  contradictions ;  a 
free  government,  with  a  reasonably  virtuous  people, 
needs  no  sword,  provided  each  part  dove-tail  and  fit 
to  its  fellow ;  without  this,  there  is  conflict  and  con- 
fusion. The  beautiful,  simple  principles  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends  never  were  fully  carried  out ;  they 
were  too  ultra  for  the  day,  hence  the  Quaker  diffi- 
culty in  conducting  the  politics  of  Pennsylvania.  A 
democratic  government,  with  a  hereditary  Governor 
at  its  head,  was  a  contradiction,  and  to  this  cause 
may  be  ascribed  nearly  all  the  difficulty  that  occurred 
in  the  government  of  the  colony  of   Pennsylvania. 

Other  contradictions  have  been  the  fruitful  som'ce 
of  schisms  and  revolutions  in  the  Quaker  society ; 
departing  from  their  original  foundation,  they  have 
to  some  degree,  like  the  Brownists,  become  men  of 
authority,  and  have  overlaid  a  beautiful  elementary 
principle  with  dogmas,  which,  so  far  from  having  any 
connection  with  it,  are  absolutely  in  contradiction  to 
it.  From  having  the  control  of  five  of  the  early 
colonies  of  this  country,  they  have  ceased  to  influence 
the  government  of  either.  Acting  faithfully  upon  con- 
tradictory principles,  with  the  utmost  individual  in- 
tegrity, they  cannot  maintain  peace  even  in  their 
own  Society.  A  remarkable  case  in  point,  is  the 
government  of  the   United  States ;    a  more  perfect 


SABBATH    DAY.  143 

system  can  hardly  be  found,  each  part  corresponding 
with  the  rest,  requiring  only  a  virtuous  people  to 
carry  it  into  effect,  with  the  exception  of  one  fearful 
contradiction.  The  South  may  argue  as  they  think 
proper,  on  the  subject  of  negro  slavery,  but  it  never 
can  be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  general  princi- 
ples of  a  free  government ;  it  is  only  suited  to  a  despot- 
ism, to  be  ruled  by  the  power  of  the  sword.  Those 
who  framed  the  Constitution  seemed  perfectly  to  un- 
derstand this, — none  more  decidedly  than  Mason  and 
Washington,  and  other  Southern  members,  yet  in- 
stead of  being  abated,  its  evils  are  increasing.  Every 
thing  of  a  contradictory  character,  even  down  to  Sab- 
bath laws,  whether  in  religious  or  civil  society,  is 
productive  of  evil. 

In  considering  the  doctrine  of  the  Quakers,  it  is 
apart  from  their  imperfections,  discipline,  and  pecu- 
liarities, be  they  what  they  may.  Falling  fars  hort  of 
what  might  have  been  expected,  yet  so  far  as  they 
have  acted  under  the  spiritual  element,  or  under  the 
influence  of  the  divine  light  in  their  own  souls,  they 
have  been  the  means  of  unfolding  great  principles  of 
human  nature,  the  inevitable  effect  of  which  has  been 
the  refinement  and  civilization  of  man.  In  every 
stage  of  their  being,  they  have  been  anti-Sabbata- 
rians, and  their  history  will  demonstrate  that  they 
have  not  been  injured  thereby. 

New  England  furnishes  one  beautiful  illustration 


144  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

of  correct  principles  Avithout  the  aid  of  Sabbath  laws, 
which  cannot  be  too  much  admired.  It  is  never  al- 
luded to,  in  their  many  celebrations,  orations,  and 
toast-drinking^.  To  allude  to  it  might  be  a  reproach 
and  condemnation  of  the  Brownists  of  Plymouth  and 
Boston. 

It  was  in  the  little  colony  of  Rhode  Island  proper, 
distinct  alike  from  the  Narragansett  country,  which 
was  called  the  King's  Province,  and  from  the  Provi- 
dence Plantations,  which  were  under  the  government  of 
Roger  Williams,  that  the  true  principles  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  were  first  promulgated  in  British 
America.  It  will  be  recollected,  that  for  a  long 
period,  Rhode  Island,  small  as  the  State  now  is,  was 
divided  into  three  provinces.* 

William  Coddington,  who  has  been  referred  to  be- 
fore, a  magistrate,  and  treasm-er  of  Suffolk  county, 
an  Episcopalian,  and  who  built  the  first  house  in  Bos- 
ton, after  being  banished  from  Massachusetts,  found 
his  way  to  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  where,  in  the 
year  1652,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Crown  governor 
for  life,  though  afterwards  superseded.  He  embraced 
the  great  idea  that  there  was  an  inward  principle  in 
man,  which  qualified  him  for  self-government,  and  it 
was   here   that   that   "holy  experiment,"  afterwards 

*  The  name  of  Rhode  Island  being  applied  as  well  to  the  general 
colony  as  to  the  particular  island,  in  each  of  which  there  were  at 
one  time  separate  governments,  has  led  to  ambiguity  iu  their  early 
history.     I  give  what  I  believe  to  be  correct. 


SABBATH   DAY.  145 

spoken  of  by  William  Penn,  of  man's  ability  to  take 
care  of  himself,  without  Sunday  laws,  or  coercive 
laws  of  any  kind,  was  first  tried.  The  result  was  one  of 
the  most  curious  which  history  can  furnish.  Different 
from  all  others  of  the  New  England  colonies,  there 
was  no  law  to  oblige  people  to  go  to  what  they  called 
a  place  of  worship,  on  Sunday,  and  liberty  of  con- 
science was  said  to  be  carried  to  an  irreligious  ex- 
treme. Their  conduct  to  the  unhappy  natives  was 
equally  remarkable;  they  who  were  called  Tawny 
Devils  in  Massachusetts,  and  believed  to  be  unworthy 
of  confidence,  were  found  in  Rhode  Island  to  be  wise 
and  peaceful  men.  Canonicus,  Miantinomi,  and  Ca- 
nonchet,  grand  sachems,  were  heroes  in  their  way, 
and  are  said  to  have  exhibited  a  fortitude  and  heroism 
equal  to  any  in  ancient  or  modern  times.*  These 
Indians  and  their  tribe  were  treated  like  men ;  their 
evidence  was  taken  in  the  Courts,  they  were  allowed 
to  sit  on  juries,  in  all  cases  affecting  themselves,  and 
great  efforts  were  mada  to  ameliorate  their  condition. 
This  kindness  was  met  by  a  corresponding  feeling  on 
the  part  of  the  Narragansetts,  and  when  war  and 
bloodshed  reigned  around,  Rhode  Island  remained 
safe. 

When  the  Massachusetts  and  other  colonies  entered 
into  a  league  against  the  Indians,  and  it  was  esti- 
mated that  one-twentieth  of  the  inhabitants  were  de- 

"^  History  of  the  Narragansett  Church. 
12* 


14G  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

stroyed,  and  one-twentieth  of  tlie  houses  burned,  the 
little  colony  of  Rhode  Island  remained  undisturbed; 
not  a  house  was  burned,  nor  an  inhabitant  injured ; 
nay,  further,  the  colony  was  made  an  asylum  for  the 
oppressed.  Those  that  were  uninjured,  found  there 
repose  ;  those  that  were  injured,  came  there  to  die. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pictures  which  the 
early  colonial  history  presents,  and  is  that  of  a  non- 
Sabbath  keeping  people. 

The  Quaker  views  respecting  government  were 
these :  that  there  was  a  divine  spirit  or  principle  in  the 
mind  of  man,  given  to  him  by  the  Author  of  all  good, 
the  centre  of  all  truth,  of  all  spiritual  intelligence, 
of  all  harmony,  of  all  virtue,  which,  as  it  was  the 
true  governing  principle  of  the  individual  man,  might 
also  be  relied  on  as  the  governing  principle  of  na- 
tions. All  men,  as  with  one  accord,  seemed  to  unite 
in  condemning  these  views.  The  philosopher  in  his 
closet,  and  the  priest  at  his  desk,  joined  with  the 
learned  man  and  the  ignorant  man,  in  their  attempt 
to  bring  them  into  ridicule.  Priest  Wilson,  in  Bos- 
ton, when  the  poor  Quaker  women  were  being 
Avhipped  through  the  streets,  said  to  them,  as  we  have 
related,  that  this  spirit  was  not  his  rule,  and  he 
trusted  it  never  would  be ;  and  the  politicians  in  Eng- 
land told  the  king  that  such  persons  were  entitled  to 
no  favor.  Yet  in  Pennsylvania  was  quietly  laid  on 
an  extended  scale,  without  parade  or  ostentation,  the 


SABBATH    DAY.  147 

true  democratic  principle  of  government,  which  was 
to  spread  from  colony  to  colony,  to  be  adopted  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  and  finally,  to 
threaten  the  strongest  despotisms  of  Europe. 

The  unfaltering  confidence  of  Wm.  Penn  in  this 
Divine  Spirit,  his  living  experience  of  it  in  his  own 
soul,  gave  him  strength  to  proclaim  it  as  the  ele- 
mentary principle  of  his  government.  He  wrote  va- 
rious treatises  to  prove  its  universality,  and  being  so, 
it  was  necessarily  as  true  in  politics  as  it  was  in  morals. 
To  borrow  a  figure  from  Scripture,  it  might  seem 
that  when  Wm.  Penn  proclaimed  his  exalted  views 
respecting  government,  his  lips  might  have  been 
''  touched  by  a  seraphim,  with  a  live  coal  from  off  the 
altar." 

His  frame  of  government  was  not  an  affair  of  ex- 
pediency, of  patriotism,  or  of  policy ;  none  of  these 
things  moved  him.  In  his  confidential  letters  to  his 
secretary,  Logan,  which  embrace  every  subject  of  an 
unreserved  character,  and  which  are  yet  in  existence, 
in  his  own  hand  writing,  extending  over  a  series  of 
years,  to  the  last  letter  he  ever  wrote,  Avhen  the  pen 
dropped  from  his  hand,  not  a  word  escapes  him  which 
indicates  a  dishonorable  mind. 

No  monument  has  been  erected,  no  paeans  have 
been  sung,  no  orations  have  been  made,  no  dinners 
eaten  or  toasts  drunk,  yet  the  early  laws  of  the  great 
colony  of  Pennsylvania  are  a  permanent  monument, 


148  INSTITUTION   OP  THE 

that  tliere,  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the  rights  of 
man,  were  placed  upon  a  safe  and  enduring  basis. 

It  was, -as  Penn  calls  it,  a  ''holy  experiment"  of 
the  power  of  man  for  self-government ;  not  a  theory, 
but  founded  upon  the  elementary  principles  of  hu- 
manity, in  which  those  coercive  laws  which  had  grown 
holy  from  antiquity  were  at  once  removed,  and  man 
was  left  to  think  and  to  act  as  he  might  deem  proper, 
with  this  only  restriction, — that  he  should  do  no  in- 
jury to  his  fellow  man.  In  the  midst  of  nations 
called  savage  and  relentless,  there  was  no  sword  or 
gun,  or  military  establishment — there  w^as  not  even 
protection  against  the  pirates  of  the  ocean.  It  was 
a  bold  experiment,  and  none  could  have  made  it  but 
men  of  superior  minds. 

No  one  can  rob  Penn  of  his  honor  but  by  a  viola- 
tion of  truth.  His  government  resulted  from  no  un- 
worthy appliances — not  from  things  around  him,  but 
from  his  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  man,  his  wants 
and  capacities;  from  'the  knowledge  of  himself, 
the  only  true  source  of  human  intelligence.  Thus 
he  at  once  cut  loose  from  the  popular  idea  of  imputed 
sin,  and  elevated  man  to  a  dignity  which  under  no 
other  circumstances  he  could  enjoy. 

This  was  a  moral  revolution,  the  foundation  of  which 
was  individual  virtue,  for  which  mankind  are  proba- 
bly more   indebted  to  Penn   than  to  any  one  that 


SABBATH    DAY,  149 

ever  lived,  and  the  extent  of  which  no  man  can  fore- 
see ;  and  yet,  as  we  shall  show,  Penn  was  a  decided 
anti- Sabbatarian. 

It  is  a  noble,  but  a  costly  victim,  involving  often 
om-  dearest  prejudices,  to  offer  on  the  altar  of  truth 
our  own  self-love.  But  until  men  do  this,  they  might 
as  well  expect  to  sow  their  grain  in  the  desert  and 
reap  a  harvest,  as  to  be  able  clearly  to  distinguish 
right  from  wrong.  This  was  the  victim  that  was  of- 
fered by  Penn  and  the  early  Quakers — their  own 
self-love — their  dearest  prejudices — as  a  means  of  at- 
taining truth. 

It  has  been  said  in  a  former  chapter,  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Massachusetts  are  now  reaping  the  benefit  of 
the  constancy  of  the  Quaker  martyrs  ;  it  may  also  be 
said,  that  it  is  to  the  anti- Sabbath  Quakers  mainly, 
that  the  United  States  are  indebted  for  those  princi- 
ples of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  are  so  much 
the  pride  and  boast  of  our  country.  Let  us  calmly 
consider  the  facts  before  us;  it  is  not  by  crying 
peace,  that  peace  is  obtained ;  but  by  establishing 
those  principles  from  which  peace  flows  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence.  So,  also,  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty;  they  come  not  at  our  bidding,  but  are  the 
natural  effect  of  causes  already  existing  in  the  human 
mind.  It  was  the  Quakers  alone  who  proclaimed  and 
established  that  great  truth,  that  there  is  a  living- 
principle  imparted  to  man  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  which 


150  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

is  the  source  of  all  true  civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  "  it 
is  the  truth  alone  that  makes  man  free."  They  de- 
monstrated this  great  idea  in  the  government  of  Penn- 
sylvania, not  i^erfectly,  indeed,  but  in  a  way  in  which 
it  had  never  been  demonstrated  before.  The  early 
government  of  Pennsylvania  was  the  admiration  of 
the  world ;  the  wise  man  and  the  weak  man,  the  be- 
liever and  the  sceptic,  those  who  had  condemned 
Penn  and  Fox  as  visionary  enthusiasts,  united  in  be- 
stowing on  it  unqualified  praise.  The  King  of  Prus- 
sia, Frederick  the  Great,  and  Voltaire,  expressed 
their  astonishment  at  its  success  ;  Peter  the  Great 
went  to  the  Quaker  meetings,  where,  understanding 
the  language,  which  his  ofiicers  did  not,  he  inter- 
preted to  them  what  had  been  said,  and  commended 
it,  adding,  that  if  they  attended  to  it,  it  would  lead 
them  to  happiness."^ 

Both  Charles  the  Second,  and  James  the  Second, 
in  their  extremity,  placed  themselves  under  the  care 
of  Quakers,  not  because  they  were  their  friends, 
but  because  they  were  believed  to  be  governed  by 
true  principles.  In  this  critical  moment,  their  faith 
did  not  forsake  them  ;  they  uncocked  their  pistols 
to  prevent  bloodshed :  though  large  rewards  were  at 
their  service,  yet  following  virtue  for  virtue's  sake, 
they  refused  all  compensation, 

Jefferson  alludes  to  the  success  of  Pennsylvania,  as 
Slorj-'s  Journal,  p.  494. 


SABBATH    DAY.  151 

a  reason  why  Virginia  should  abolish  her  church 
hierarchy.  Lawrence  Washington,  as  recorded  m 
Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  p.  50,  says,  that  the  prin- 
ciples of  Pennsylvania  are  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

Five  of  the  early  colonies  were  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Quakers ;  excepting  these,  all  the 
colonies  of  this  country  were  persecuting  colonies. 
Our  last  chapter  refers  to  New  England ;  in  New 
York,  though  more  limited,  there  were  severe  whip- 
ping and  imprisonments  ;  entertaining  of  a  Quaker 
was  subjected  to  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds  ;  and  a  vessel 
that  brought  one  to  the  province  w^as  forfeited. 

In  Episcopal  Virginia  there  w^ere  several  acts 
making  it  penal  for  parents  to  refuse  to  have  their 
children  baptized;  it  was  also  made  penal  for  a  master 
of  a  vessel  to  bring  a  Quaker  into  the  colony ;  those 
already  there  were  to  be  imprisoned,  and  the  punish- 
ment of  death  was  awarded  if  they  retui-ned  the  third 
time.  Jefierson  says,  in  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  "  if  no 
execution  took  place  here,  as  did  in  New  England,  it 
was  not  owing  to  the  moderation  of  the  Church,  or 
spirit  of  the  Legislatui'e."     Page  233. 

The  two  most  liberal  colonies  were  the  Catholic 
colony  of  Maryland,  and  the  Baptist  colony  of  the 
Providence  Plantations.  Yet  the  liberty  of  conscience 
claimed  to  have  been  established  by  Lord  Baltimore, 
and  by  Roger  Williams,  was  but  a  feeble  and  par- 
tial toleration,  existing  to-day,  but  to  be  changed  to- 
morrow, by  the  caprices  of  successive  Legislatures. 


152  INSTITUTION    or   THE 

Thus,  in  Maryland,  there  was  a  law  which  enacted 
that  those  who  should  reproach  the  Holy  Trinity 
or  any  of  the  three  persons  thereof,  should  suffer 
death ;  and  in  the  Providence  Plantations,  the  Roman 
Catholics  were  excluded  from  the  colony,  by  a  law 
which  existed  more  than  a  hundred  years ;  besides 
these,  in  each  colony  there  were  many  minor  acts 
which  violated  liberty  of  conscience.  Wm.  Penn  had 
several  interviews  with  Lord  Baltimore,pleading  for  the 
repeal  of  these  laws  ;  and  George  Fox  appeared  at  a 
public  meeting  at  Providence,  saying,  "You  are  the 
unworthiest  men  upon  earth,  if  you  do  lose  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  has  made  you  free  in  life  and  glory." 
See  Bancroft's  History. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  at  the  early  period  of  which 
we  speak,  these  were  all  the  colonies.  New  Hampshire 
being  absorbed  into  Massachusetts.  That  the  anti- 
Sabbath  Quakers  were  first  in  establishing  those 
principles  from  which  civil  and  religious  liberty 
naturally  flow,  and  then  carrying  them  into  effect, 
admits  of  no  denial.* 

In  Carolina,  the  Quaker  principles  were  peculiarly 
vindicated.  The  proprietors  of  that  province — for 
the  two  formed  one  colony  in  their  early  day — applied 
to  the  celebrated  John  Locke,  to  form  a  constitution 
for   its    government.     He    had   written   extensively 

*  The  Quakers  at  one  time  controlled  the  governments  of  Rhode 
Island,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  the  two  Caro- 
linas.  The  other  colonies  were  those  of  New  Hampshire,  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  New  York,  Maryland  and  Virginia. 


SABBATH   DAY.  158 

on  the  human  mind,  on  toleration,  and  on  govern- 
ment, and  was  supposed,  above  all  other  men  in  Eng- 
land, to  be  qualified  for  the  task ;  he  performed  his 
work,  and  it  was  believed  by  the  wise  men  of  Eng- 
land to  be  a  perfect  model ;  yet  in  practice  it  was 
utterly  worthless,  and  produced  nothing  but  discord. 
The  colony  was  relieved  from  its  difiiculties  by  elect- 
ing John  Archdale,  a  Quaker,  of  Buckinghamshire, 
as  Governor,  and  it  immediately  began  to  thrive  under 
his  administration.  Locke's  constitution  was  aban- 
doned, and  the  representatives  voted  Archdale  an  ad- 
dress of  thanks,  saying  that  "  by  his  wisdom  and 
labor  he  ha'd  laid  a  firm  foundation  for  a  most  glo- 
rious superstructure."  (Archdale's  Carolina,  page  18.) 
In  juxtaposition  to  Locke's  constitution,  we  may 
refer  to  that  of  Penn,  for  the  government  of  Penn- 
sylvania. State  after  State,  in  this  Union,  has 
copied  not  only  his  ideas,  but  in  many  instances  his 
w^ords ;  and  they  remain  recorded  as  an  enduring 
monument  to  his  memory. 

Penn  came  to  Pennsylvania,  using  this  language: 
"As  to  consecrated  days  and  times,  we  boldly  tes- 
tify against  them,  as  beggarly  and  Jewish."  **  He 
certainly  little  deserves  to  be  styled  an  evangelical 
minister,  who,  instead  of  preaching  the  end  of  all 
holy  days,  feasts,  new  moons,  solemn  assemblies,  and 
Sabbath  days,  is  asserting  and  maintaining  the  abso- 

13 


154  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

lute  necessity  and  service  of  them  under  the  gospel."* 
Robert  Barclay,  the  defender  of  the  Quaker  faith, 
writes  thus :  some  one  had  said,  "  John  was  in  the 
spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,  therefore  the  first  day  of 
the  week  ought  to  he  kept;"  Barclay  replied,  "how 
hangs  this  together  ?  Prove  that  John  meant  the 
first  day  of  the  week.  We  read  much  in  Scripture 
of  the  day  of  the  Lord,  which  is  the  Lord's  day  ; 
but  nowhere  do  we  find  it  called  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  or  any  other  natural  day ;  for  it  is  spiritual : 
and  as  God  called  the  natural  light,  day,  so  he  calleth 
the  spiritual  light  of  his  appearance,  day."  Again, 
"If  ye  keep  one  day  for  his  resuiTcction,  why  not 
one  day  for  his  conception,  another  for  his  birth, 
another  for  the  annunciation  of  the  angel,  another 
for  his  being  crucified,  another  for  his  ascension  ? 
and  then  we  shall  not  want  holy  days  in  good 
store."  In  his  Apology  he  says — -"  We,  not  seeing 
any  ground  in  Scripture  for  it,  cannot  be  so  super- 
stitious as  to  believe  that  either  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
now  continues,  or  that  the  first  day  of  the  week  is 
the  anti-type  thereof,  or  the  true  Christian  Sabbath. "'j' 
"  We  know  no  moral  obligation  by  the  fom^th  com- 
mandment or  elsewhere,  to  keep  the  first  day  of  the 
week  more  than  any  other,  or  as  any  holiness  in- 
herent in  it." 

^-  Penn's  Works,  2d  volume,  page  21. 
t  Apology  on  Sabbath, 


SABBATH    DAY.  '         155 

The  first  section  of  the  first  law  of  the  province  of 
Pennsylvania,  enacted  at  Upland,  now  Chester,  within 
a  few  days  after  Penn's  arrival  in  the  province,  and 
which  is  still  preserved  among  the  archives  at  Harris- 
burg,  was  a  bold  and  fearless  declaration  in  favor  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty.  The  second  section  says, 
that  for  the  ease  of  creation,  ordinary  labor  should  be 
suspended  on  the  first  day  of  the  wxek. 

A^quarter  of  a  century  afterwards,  the  first  Sabbath 
law  of  the  province  was  enacted.  It,  like  the  former, 
was  accompanied  by  a  broad  declaration  in  favor  of 
liberty  of  conscience.  This  latter  law  was  rejected 
by  the  British  Crown,  as  being  too  liberal  for  the 
British  constitution.  It  interdicted  ordinary  labor, 
but  directed  that  cook-shops,  victualling  houses,  fer- 
ries, etc.,  should  be  kept  open  for  the  accommodation 
of  travellers,  and  there  was  no  restriction  upon  sports 
or  recreations  of  any  kind. 

Thus  things  remained  for  a  period  of  more  than  one 
hundred  years,  when  sports  and  recreations  were  for 
the  first  time  interdicted  in  Pennsylvania.  Yet,  to 
the  disgrace  of  the  State,  by  laws  made  by  the  judges 
themselves,  to  suit  the  occasion,  the  Seventh-day 
Baptists  have  been  denied  the  rights  which,  to  men 
of  common  sense,  appear  to  have  been  guaranteed 
to  all.  I  give  the  opinion  of  General  Washington 
upon  this  subject. 

On  the   2d  of   October,  1798,  at  New  Mills,  Bur- 


150  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

lington  county,  State  of  Ne^\  Jersey,  a  Seventh-clay 
Baptist,  being  indicted  before  a  Justice  of  the  Peace 
for  working  on  Sunday,  and  fined,  he  appealed ; 
during  the  trial  at  Court,  an  extract  of  a  letter  from 
Gen.  Washington  was  produced  by  the  Judge  in 
his  charge  to  the  Jury,  which  was  in  answer  to  a 
Committee  of  a  Baptist  Society  in  Virginia,  dated 
August  4,  1789,  as  follows  ;— 

"  If  I  had  had  the  least  idea  of  any  difficulty  resulting 
from  the  Constitution  adopted  by  the  Convention  of 
which  I  had  the  honor  to  be  President,  when  it  was 
formed,  so  as  to  endanger  the  rights  of  any  religious 
denoniination,  then  I  never  should  have  attached  my 
name  to  that  instrument.  If  I  had  any  idea  that  the 
General  Government' was  so  administered  that  liberty 
of  conscience  was  endangered,  I  pray  you  be  assured 
that  no  man  would  be  more  willing  than  myself  to  re- 
vise and  alter  that  part  of  it,  so  as  to  avoid  all  re- 
ligious persecution.  You  can,  without  any  doubt,  re- 
member that  I  have  often  expressed  as  my  opinion, 
that  every  man  vfho  conducts  himself  as  a  good  citizen 
is  accountable  alone  to  God  for  his  religious  faith, 
and  should  be  protected  in  worshipping  God  accord- 
ing to  his  own  conscience. 

Signed,        George  Washington." 

The  result  was,  acquittal  by  the  Jury. 

The   principles    of  Pennsylvania,    repeatedly   de- 
clared and  summed  up  by  William  Penn,  were,  that 


SABBATH   DAY.  Ibl 

"-  the  object  of  government  is  to  support  power  with 
reverence  to  the  people,  and  to  secure  the  people 
from  the  abuse  of  power."*  I  have  before  alluded 
to  the  anti-toleration  principles  in  New  England.  The 
London  Presbyterian  ministers  in  their  confession  of 
faith,  say,  "  The  last  error  they  witness  against,  and 
in  which  all  agree,  is  called  the  error  of  toleration, 
patronizing  and  promoting  all  other  errors,  heresies, 
and  blasphemies  whatsoever,  under  the  grossly  abused 
notion  of  liberty  of  conscience. "f 

Penn  says,  liberty  of  conscience  is  the  first  step 
to  religion.  "I  have  written,"  he  says,  ''many 
apologies  to  defend  it."  "No  party  could  ever 
bias  me  to  the  prejudice  of  my  country,  nor  any  per- 
sonal interest  oblige  me  to  her  wrong." 

"Till  I  saw  my  friends,  with  the  kingdom,  delivered 
from  the  legal  bondage,  which  penal  laws  for  religion, 
had  subjected  them  to,  I  could,  with  no  satisfaction, 
think  of  leaving  England  •  *  =5:  *  having  in  all  this 
time  never  had  either  office  or  pension,  and  always 
refusing  the  rewards  or  gratuities  of  those  I  have 
been  able  to  oblige. "J     (Penn's  letter  to  Popple.) 

*Proud's  History  of  Pennsylvania. 

fNeal's  Hist.  Puritans,  London  edition,  1768,  voL  i.  pp.  136, 
13t,  and  voL  iii.  p.  360. 

X  The  character  of  William  Penn,  as  is  well  known,  has  been 
the  subject  of  obloquy  from  his  youth.  The  present  day  has 
not  been  without  its  calumnies  ;  they  have  alike  proceeded  from 
minds  incapable  of  understanding  him,  and  mav  be  considere4. 

13* 


158  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

The  first  article  of  the  Constitution  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  in  these  words  :  "In  reverence  to  God, 
the  father  of  lights  and  spirits,  the  author  as  well 
as  object  of  all  divine  knowledge,  faith  and  worship, 

as  tributes  paid  to  men  inferior  to  himself,  as  the  price  of  supe- 
rior excellence. 

I  am  able  to  present  a  sketch  of  his  character  altogether 
unique — an  extract  from  his  will,  in  his  own  hand-writing, 
and  comprising  several  folio  sheets,  which  he  executed  on 
leaving  America  for  the  last  time.  One  of  the  ancestors  of  the 
writer  was  a  witness,  and  one  of  the  executors.  This  will  being 
superseded  by  another  testament  in  England,  which  was  carried 
into  effect,  this  has  come  down  unimpaired  to  the  present  day. 
I  give  the  beginning  and  conclusion,  omitting  the  body  of  the 
instrument.  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  it  has  never  been 
published.  Tlie  conclusion  is  remarkable,  as  giving  a  sketch  of 
his  life,  under  his  own  hand,  and  being  witnessed  by  the  most 
respectable  men,  who,  unquestionably,  were  well  acquainted 
with  Penn.  It  is  in  itself  a  refutation  of  the  calumnies  that 
have  been  circulated.     The  will  is  dated 

"xVetw  Castle,  on  Delaware,  30,  8^/i,  1701. 
Because  it  is  appointed  for  all  men  once  to  die,  and  their  days 
are  in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty  their  Creator,  I  think  fit  upon 
this  present  voyage  to  make  my  last  will  and  testament.  *  *  * 
And  now  if  ever  I  have  done  amiss  to  any,  I  desire  their  forgive- 
ness, and  for  all  ye  good  offices  I  have  ever  done,  I  give  God 
who  enabled  me,  ye  honor  and  thanks,  and  for  all  my  enemies 
and  their  evil  reflections  and  reports,  and  endeavors  to  ruin  me 
in  name  and  estate,  I  do  say,  ye  Lord  forgive  them  and  amend 
them ;  for  I  have  ever,  from  a  child,  loved  the  best  things  and 
people,  and  have  had  a  heart  to  bless  the  name  of  Almighty 
God,  to  do  good  without  gain,  yea,  sometimes  for  evil,  and  to 
consume  my  own  to  servp  others,  which  has  been. my  greatest 


SABBATH    DAY.  159 

I  do  for  me  and  mine  declare  and  establish,  for  the 
first  fundamental  of  the  government  of  this  country, 
that  every  person  that  doth  or  shall  reside  therein 
shall  have  and  enjoy  the  free  possession  of  his  or  her 

burden  and  infirmity,  having  a  mind  not  only  just,  but  kind, 
even  to  a  fault,  for  it  has  made  me  sometimes  hardly  so  just, 
by  means  of  debts  thereby  contracted,  as  my  integrity  would 
have  made  me :  and  now  for  all  my  good  friends  that  have  loved 
and  helped  me,  do  so  still,  in  my  poor  children,  w^  you  can,  and 
Grod  Almighty  be  to  you  and  yours  an  ample  reward  ;  you  have 
my  hearty  and  grateful  acknowledgements  and  commemoration, 
who  never  lived  to  myself  from  my  very  youth,  but  to  you  and 
the  whole  world  in  love  and  service.  This  I  ordain  to  be,  and 
accorcingly  is,  my  last  will  and  testament,  revoking  all  other. 
Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  the  day  and  year  above  written." 

"Wm.  Pexn.     [seal.] 

Sealed  and  delivered  in  ye  presence  of  Richard  Halliworth, 
Jos.  Wood,  James  Logan. 

Cobb,  in  his  late  work  on  Slavery,  says  ''As  a  body,  the 
Quakers  or  Society  of  Friends,  were  the  first  to  take  bold  posi- 
tion as  to  the  sinfulness  both  of  the  trade  and  the  system. ' '  Else- 
where he  says,  "  It  is  a  mooted  question  whether  William  Penn 
himself  did  or  did  not  die  a  slaveholder."  I  am  able  to  give 
this  question,  which  has  been  long  in  dispute,  a  satisfactory  solu- 
tion.    I  extract  the  following  from  this  will : 

' '  I  give  to  my  blacks  their  freedom  as  under  my  hand  already, 
and  to  old  Sam  one  hundred  acres  to  be  his  children's  after  he 
and  wife  are  dead,  forever  on  common  rent  of  one  bushel  of 
wheat  yearly  forever. ' ' 

This  will,  as  has  been  stated,  was  never  carried  into  efl'ect,  and 
as  they  were  not  mentioned  in  the  subsequent  will,  the  blacks 
were  not  freed,  Hannah  Penn,  several  years  after  her  husband's 
death,  made  inquiry  of  James  Logan  respecting  these  negroes. 


160  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

faith,  and  exercise  of  worship  towards  God,  in  such 
way  and  manner,  as  every  such  person  shall  in  con- 
science believe  is  most  acceptable  to  God.""^ 

These  principles  were  declared  at  the  period  when 
the  courts  in  Massachusetts  exhibited  the  deplorable 
infatuation  of  condemning  innocent  persons  to  be 
hung  as  witches,  and  were  carrying  on  bitter  religious 
persecutions. 

Such  was  the  Anti-Sabbath  doctrine  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania colonists.     It  was  the  result  of  those  princi- 

He  replies  under  date  lltli  day  of  3d  mo.,  May,  1721,  as  fol- 
lows : 

* '  The  Proprietor,  in  a  will  left  with  me  at  his  departure  hence, 
(being  undoubtedly  the  will  referred  to  above, )  left  all  his  negroes 
their  freedom,  but  this  is  entirely  private  ;  however  there  are 
very  few  left.  Sam  died  soon  after  your  departure  hence,  and 
his  brother  James,  very  lately  ;  Chevalier,  by  a  written  order  from 
his  master,  had  his  liberty  several  years  ago,  so  that  there  are 
none  left  but  Sue,  whom  Letitia  claims  or  did  claim  as  given  to 
her  when  she  went  to  England,  but  how  rightfully  I  know  not  ; 
these  things  you  can  best  discuss  ;  she  has  several  children : 
there  are  besides  two  old  negroes,  quite  worn,  that  remained  of 
three  that  I  recovered  near  eighteen  years  ago  of  E.  Gibba'  estate 
of  New  Castle  County." 

As  the  authenticity  of  these  papers  admits  of  no  dispute,  they 
prove  that  when  William  Penn  died,  several  of  his  old  servants 
in  Pennsylvania  were  slaves  ;  it  may  be  mentioned  that  at  this 
period  Negro  Slavery  was  legalized  by  England  and  other  Euro- 
pean nations,  and  with  the  exception  of  Georgia,  which  was 
settled  afterwards,  and  whose  organic  law  prohibited  it,  it  existed 
in  all  the  American  Colonies. 

*  See  Historical  Register  for  the  year  172^5,  pp.  107,  108. 


SABBATH   DAY.  161 

pies  which  enabled  them  to  endure  the  bitterest  per- 
secutions with  unshaken  constancy,  without,  in  any 
one  instance,  plotting  or  contriving  the  injury  of  those 
who  were  oppressing  them.  They  were  beaten  and 
abused,  but  they  remained  unchanged;  they  sought 
for  no  power  or  distinction  among  men ;  they  yielded 
not  to  the  government,  but  the  government  yielded  to 
them.  The  conduct  of  Penn  to  the  Indians  was 
marked  by  the  same  benign  spirit.  The  following  is 
a  letter  that  he  wrote  to  them.  It  is  delightful  to 
contemplate  such  sentiments,  proceeding  as  they  did 
from  the  pure  principles  of  peace. 

"London,  the  ISth  of  Sth  mo.,  1681. 
"  My  Friends,— There  is  a  great  God  and  power 
that  hath  made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein ;  to 
whom  you  and  I,  and  all  people,  owe  their  being  and 
well-being,  to  whom  you  and  I  must  one  day  give  an 
account  for  all  that  we  do  in  the  world.  This  great 
God  hath  written  his  law  in  our  hearts,  by  which  we 
are  taught  amd  commanded  to  love  and  help,  and  do 
good  to  one  another,  and  not  to  do  harm  and  mischief 
one  to  another.  Now  this  great  God  hath  been  pleased 
to  make  me  concerned  in  your  part  of  the  world,  and 
the  King  of  the  country  where  I  live  hath  given  me 
a  great  province  therein.  But  I  desire  to  enjoy  it 
with  your  love  and  consent,  that  we  may  always  live 
together  as  neighbors  and  friends.  Else  what  would 
the  great  God  do  to  us,  who  hath  made  us  not  to  devour 


162      .  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

and  destroy  one  another,  but  to  live  soberly  and  kindly 
in  the  world  ?  *  *  *  *  j  have  great  love  and  regard 
towards  you  ;  and  I  desire  to  win  and  gain  your  love 
and  friendship  by  a  kind,  just,  and  peaceable  life  ;  and 
the  people  I  send  are  of  the  same  mind,  and  shall  in 
all  things  behave  themselves  accordingly.  And  if  in 
any  thing  any  shall  oifend  you  or  your  people, 
you  shall  have  a  full  and  speedy  satisfaction  for  the 
same,  by  an  equal  number  of  just  men  on  both  sides, 
that  by  no  means  you  may  have  just  occasion  of  being 
offended  against  them.  I  shall  shortly  come  to  you 
myself,  at  which  time  we  may  more  largely  and  freely 
confer  and  discourse  of  these  matters.  In  the  mean 
time  I  have  sent  my  commissioners  to  treat  with  you 
about  land,  and  a  firm  league  of  peace.  Let  me  de- 
sire you  to  be  kind  to  them  and  the  people,  and  re- 
ceive these  presents  and  tokens  which  I  have  sent  you 
as  a  testimony  of  my  good  will  to  you,  and  my  reso- 
lution to  live  justly,  peaceably,  and  friendly  with 
you.* 

"I  am  your  loving  friend,   W.  Penn." 

In  the  first  law  made  by  Penn  are  these  words :  • 

''  No  man  shall,  by  any  way  or  means,  or  in  word 

or  deed,  affront  or  WTong  any  Indian,  but  he  shall 

incur  the  same   penalty  of  the   law   as   it'  he   had 

committed   it    against   his   fellow  planter.     All  dif- 

"'^''  Proud's  Hist.  Pennsylvania. 


SABBATH   DAY.  163 

ferences  between  the  planters  and  the  natives  shall 
be  ended  by  twelve  men — six  planters  and  six  na- 
tives," &c.* 

Coming  among  the  Indians  with  feelings  of  hos- 
tility, the  Brownists  believed  them  to  be  a  treacherous 
people,  unworthy  to  be  trusted. 

The  Quakers,  with  the  olive  branch  of  peace,  found 
them  kind  and  docile,  easily  to  be  entreated.  These 
went  in  and  out  among  them,  never  drew  a  sword  nor 
fired  a  gun,  and  their  dominion  was  everywhere  one 
of  peace. 

I  have  s-'en  an  unpublished  letter  from  James 
Logan,  who  had  the  principal  direction  of  Indian 
affairs  for  nearly  half  a  century,  in  which  he  says, 
*'  that  whatever  he  might  have  been  in  other  respects, 
to  the  Indians  he  was  always  kind,  humane,  and 
generous."  It  produced  an  effect  on  them  which  has 
never  been  effaced  to  the  present  day.  Previous  to 
Jay's  treaty,  the  influence  of  the  Quakers  with  the 
Indians  was  so  great,  that  General  Washington  en- 
couraged several  distinguished  members  of  the  Society* 
to  accompany  General  Lincoln  and  others  to  Detroit, 
in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  effect  a  peace :  and  I 
have  in  my  possession  letters  from  a  Senator  of  the 

■^  The  names  of  the  commissioners  were  Governor  Lincoln, 
Beverly  Randolph,  and  Timothy  Pickering. 

The  Quakers,  John  Parriah,  William  Savery,  Jacob  Lindley, 
John  Elliott,  Joseph  Moore. 


164  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

United  States,  during  the  administration  of  Jefferson, 
proposing  that  the  Quakers  should  take  the  whole 
management  of  Indian  affairs. 

The  facts  relating  to  criminal  law  are  equally  re- 
markable ;  while,  as  we  have  stated,  the  laws  of 
New  England  were  made  more  severe,  those  of  Penn- 
sylvania were  ameliorated. 

While  the  laws  of  Great  Britain  recognised  one 
hundred  and  sixty  crimes  punishable  by  death,  the 
Quakers,  on  establishing  their  government,  restricted 
the  punishment  by  death  to  wilful  murder. 

Queen  Anne  refused  her  assent  to  this  legislation, 
till  then  unknown  in  the  British  Empire.  The  colonists, 
however,  retained  and  acted  upon  their  own  laws ; 
they  were  again  set  aside  by  the  British  Crown  ;  the 
Quakers  persisted  in  their  own  views,, and  finally  pre- 
vailed, and  thus  Pennsylvania  became  the  pioneer  in 
ameliorating  the  criminal  jurisprudence  of  the  world. 

At  this  particular  period,  when  Queen  Anne  was 
refusing  her  assent  to  the  amelioration  of  the  criminal 
code  in  this  part  of  her  kingdom,  there  was  printed 
by  her  authority,  in  the  liturgies  of  the  Episcopal 
Chui'ch,  of  which  she  was  the  head,  the  form  of  the 
royal  touch  for  the  cure  of  the  king's  evil ;  and  one 
of  the  bishops,  who  died  in  the  year  1709,  asserted 
its  miraculous  power  in  the  lineal  descendants  of 
Saint  Edward  the  Confessor.* 

It  might  seem  from  such  facts  as  these,  of  which 
*  Strickland's  Queens  of  England,  vol.  12,  page  109. 


SABBATH    DAY.  165 

there  are  many,  that  apart  from  man's  spiritual  nature 
he  is  degraded  below  the  irrational  creation. 

The  history  of  the  Brownists  and  the  Quakers, 
however  imperfectly  their  principles  may  have  been 
developed,  exhibits  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  differ- 
ence between  a  religion  that  had  for  a  primary  object 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  day,  and  one  that, 
without  making  any  distinction,  sought  to  do  right 
every  day  in  the  week.  I  advert  to  the  Quakers  only 
to  illustrate  a  principle ;  all  that  is  valuable  in  their 
doctrines  is  common  to  the  whole  human  family.  AYhat- 
ever  men  may  think  of  their  sectarianism,  and  of  that 
there  can  be  but  one  opinion,  their  exertions  have 
tended  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  society;*  and 
in  this  colony  they  resulted  in  a  pm-er  government 
than  had  ever  been  maintained  before.  They  have 
proved  that  society  can  exist  without  war,  when  in 
all  similar  cases  the  sword  was  deemed  absolutely 
needful ;    they  have   proved   that   society  can  exist 

*  Tlie  ascendancy  of  the  Quakers  in  the  province  of  Pennsyl- 
vania ceased  ahout  the  time  of  the  old  French  war,  when  Brad- 
dock  was  defeated,  after  they  had  held  it  about  seventy  years, 
because  they  did  not  choose  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood 
of  their  fellow  men.  A  vast  number  of  people  had  come  into 
the  province,  who  were  aliens  to  the  principles  of  peace  ;  fighting 
was  a  necessary  consequence,  and  they  abandoned  the  govern- 
ment. The  venerable  Isaac  Norris,  a  distinguished  Quaker,  for 
many  years  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  solicited 
year  after  year  not  to  be  elected,  but  they  refused  all  his  entrea- 
ties, and  continued  to  elect  him  until  he  would  stay  no  longer. 

14 


166  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

better  without  than  with  an  established  clergy :  they 
have  proved,  and  are  still  proving,  the  errors  that  are 
promulgated  by  Sabbath  conventions,  and  by  Sabba- 
tarians of  every  grade ;  and  I  may  ask  every  candid 
and  inquiring  mind,  whether  views  that  produce  such 
extraordinary  results  are  to  be  easily  abandoned  or 
lightly  esteemed.* 

It  has  been  my  lot  to  know  many  excellent  and 
virtuous  individuals,  who  practically  carried  these 
principles  into  effect.  One,  an  eminent  and  distin- 
guished minister  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  respected 
and  esteemed  by  all,  worked  in  his  fields  on  that  day 
as  often  as  it  suited  him  to  do  so,  and  frequently  ex- 
pressed the  satisfaction  he  derived  from  it.  It  ac- 
corded with  his  sense  of  right,  and  I  never  heard  of 
inconvenience  or  loss  resulting  to  him .  or  others  from 
such  a  course. 

The  leading  principle  of  the  Quakers,  so  true  and 
so  exalted  as  it  is,  has  been  so  much  mixed  up  with 
sectarianism,  with  creeds,  and  peculiarities  of  disci- 
pline and  of  dress,  the  natural  effects  of  imperfection, 
and  perhaps  inherent  in  the  nature  of  sects,  but  which 
have  nothing  to  do  with  religion,  that  the  world  seems 
never  to  have  given  them  credit  for  what  they  really 
deserve. 

Even  at  this  day  there  are  townships  in  which  the 
Quaker  influence  has  prevailed,  where  there  is  no  one 

*  See  Works  of  Sidney  Smith.     Article  Quakers. 


SABBATH    DAY.  167 

willing  to  accept  the  office  of  magistrate,  because 
there  is  no  occasion  for  one.  In  one  township  there 
is  no  tavern,  no  magistrate,  no  constable,  no  clergy- 
man, no  lawyer.  In  another,  thickly  settled,  it  is 
said,  there  has  never  been  a  case  of  assault  and  battery 
since  its  first  settlement,  a  period  of  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years.  These  people,  though  they  open  their 
meeting-houses  for  public  worship  on  the  first  day 
and  other  days  of  the  week,  in  conformity  with  the 
practice  of  the  early  Christians,  they  are  yet,  as  de- 
fined above,  to  use  a  modern  sectarian  term,  "  dese- 
crators  of  the  Sabbath." 

If  these  facts  can  be  sustained,  the  conclusion  is 
i  rresistible,  that  so  far  as  respects  the  Brownists  and 
the  Quakers,  the  position  taken  by  the  Sabbath  con- 
ventions, and  by  many  sectarians,  "  that  man  is  purified 
by  attending  to  the  fourth  commandment,  and  making 
one  day  more  holy  than  another,"  is  absolutely  false. 

I  place  in  juxtaposition  extracts  from  three  re- 
markable addresses  to  King  Charles  II.  on  his  restora- 
tion, in  order  to  show  the  aspect  of  Sabbatarian  and 
Anti-Sabbatarian  doctrines,  when  they  approach 
royalty.  Either  of  them  is  too  long  to  be  inserted 
here,  but  I  believe  I  preserve  the  spirit  of  each  in  the 
portions  I  have  selected.  They  fully  sustain  the  cha- 
racter of  the  two  people  as  developed  in  these  pages. 

Each  address  alludes  to  the  persecutions  to  which 


ItJcS 


INSTITUTION    UF    TlIK 


their  l>ai'ly   had   \)ccu   subject,  and  ycoiii.s  tu  ask   tlio 
interposition  of  the  king. 
The  Puritans  say  : 


"Most  (Iracious  and  dioatl 
S()V(M-<*igii : 

"  May  it  ploaso  your  majosty, 
in  the  day  whoroin  you  lKii)i)ily 
say,  you  now  know  that  you 
are  again  king  over  your  Brit- 
ish Israel,  to  cast  a  favoiablo 
eye  upon  yovir  jxxm-  M<']>liil)()- 
Bhf^ths,  now,  and  hy  reason  of 
lameness,  in  respect  ofdistaiuu*, 
not  until  now,  appearing  in 
your  presence,  wo  nuian  New 
England,  kneeling,  with  ilie 
rest  of  your  subjects,  bi^fore 
your  majesty,  as  her  restored 
king.  **■'<•*  We  present 
this  scrip,  the  transcript  of  our 
loyal  hearts,  into  your  royal 
hands,  wherein  we  crave  leave  : 

**  Tosui)i)licateyour  majesty 
for  your  gracious  x»Jotection  of 
us,  in  the  continuance  of  our 
civil  privileges.     *    *    *    * 

**  With  a  religious  salutation 
of  our  prayers,  we  (prostrate  at 
your  royal  ftset)  beg  jjardon  for 
this  our  l)oldn(^ss, craving  lliial- 
ly  that  our  names  may  Ix;  en- 
rolled among  your  maj(!Hty'.s 
most  humble  subjects  and  suj)- 
l»lieants."  ' 


"T(,  (Miailes  II.  King,  kr. 

"  HolxMt  Barclay,  a  servant 
of  .Tt<sus  Christ,  (sailed  of  (Hod 
to  ilKMlispensatioii  of  tlm  gos- 
pel, wishes  liealth  and  salva- 
tion. As  it  is  inconsistent  with 
the  truth  I  bear,  so  it  is  far 
fidni  me  to  use  this  ejustle  as 
an  engine  to  Hatter  thee.  *  *  * 
To  (lod  alone  I  <)w<i  what  I 
have,  and  that  more  innuedi- 
at(dy  in  mattei's  spiritual  ;  and 
tberefon^  lo  llini  alone,  aiul  (o 
the  service  of  His  trutii,  I  <Iedi- 
cate  whatever  work  lie  brings 
forth  in  me. 

"Thou  liast  tasted  of  ])ros- 
perity  and  adversity ;  thou 
knowest  what  it  is  to  be  ban- 
ished tliy  native  country,  to  be 
overruled  as  well  as  to  rule 
and  sit  upon  tlie  tlirone  ;  and 
being  oppressed,  thou  liast  rea- 
son to  know  how  hateful  the 
oppression  is  both  to  (lod  and 
man. 

"  («()d  hath  done  gntat  tilings 
for  tliee;  He  liatli  sufficiently 
shown  thee,  that  it  is  by  Him 
])rinc((s  rule,  and  that  H(»  can 
])ull    do^vn   and  set    np    at   his 


RABBATH    DAY. 


109 


"  To  tho  King'H  most  oxcolhml 

majo.sty. 
"Tho  humblo   supplication  of 

tho    General    Court    of    the 

Massachusetts  Colony  in  New 

England. 
'*  Dread  Hovereign : 

"If  your  poor  subjects,  who 
have  removed  thomsolves  into 
a  remote  corner  of  the  earth  to 
enjoy  peace  with  (Jod  and  man, 
do,  in  this  day  of  their  trouble, 
prostrate  themselves  at  your 
royal  feet,  and  heg  your  favor, 
wo  liope  it  will  be  graciously 
accepted  by  your  majesty.  And 
that  as  the  high  place  you  sus- 
tain on  earth  doth  number  you 
liero  among  the  gods,  so  you 
will  imitate  the  God  of  heaven, 
in  being  ready  to  maintain  tho 
cause  of  tho  atllicted,  and  tho 
right  of  tho  poor,  and  to  receive 
their  (M'ies  and  atldrossos  to  that 
ond.">' 


jihiasure.  He  hath  often  faith- 
fully warned  thee  by  His  ser- 
vants, Hinc(i  He  restored  theo  to 
the  royal  dignity,  that  thy  heart 
might  not  wax  wanton  against 
llim  to  forget  His  mercies 
and  providence  towards  thee  ; 
whereby  He  might  permit  thoe 
to  be  soothed  up  and  lulled 
asleep  in  thy  sins  by  the  flatter- 
ing of  court  parasites,  who  by 
their  fawning  are  the  rain  of 
many  princ(;s. 

"God  Almighty,  who  hath 
so  signally  bitherto  visited  theo 
with  his  love,  80  touch  and 
reach  thy  heart,  ere  the  day  of 
thy  visitation  be  expired,  that 
thou  mayest  ellectually  t\iru  to 
him  so  as  to  improve  thy  place 
and  station  for  his  name.  So 
wishcth,  so  prayeth, 

"  Thy  faithful  friend  and 
subject. 

''RoliKllT   BAlULAY."t 


Con.sidci-iii<^'  iho  ^^vvni  liostilily  tlic  Brownists  li:i(l 
evinced  towards  royalty,  tliat  tlicy  IkkI  hvvu  iiistni- 
hu'iiImI  ill  llic  dclliroiK'incut  of  Kiii^i;  Cliarles  1,  these 


*  Notes  to  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,   and  Hutchinson's 
History. 


I  Barclay's  Works. 


14=^ 


170  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

epistles  to  liis  son  may  be  considered  as  evincing  the 
perfection  of  cant  and  hypocrisy. 

Voltaire,  in  his  letters  concerning  the  English  na- 
tion, says  of  this  letter  of  Robert  Barclay,  "  This 
epistle  is  not  filled  with  mean  flattering  encomiums, 
but  abounds  with  bold  touches  in  favor  of  truth,  and 
with  the  wisest  counsels;"  and  he  adds,  "it  was  so 
happy  in  its  effects,  as  to  put  an  end  to  persecutions 
against  the  Quakers."* 

To  this  I  add,  as  pertinent  to  my  subject,  the  fol- 
io win  o-  extracts  from  two  histories  of  Massachusetts 
and  of  Pennsylvania,  each  written  about  eighty  years 
after  the  settlement  of  the  respective  colonies;  they 
are  believed  to  be  entirely  authentic : 

Cotton  Mather  says  of  Massa-  Robert  Proud,  of  Pennsylva- 

chusetts :  "It  may  be  that  the  nia,  says  : — "The enjoyment  of 

wrath    which    we    have     had  that  rational  freedom  of  think- 

against   one   another  has   had  ing  and  religions  worship,  with 

more    than   a   little    influence  the  just  and  equal  participation 

upon  the  coming  down  of  the  of  natural  and  civil  rights   has 

devil  in  that  wrath  which  now  been  both   the   cause  and  the 

amazes  us.     Have  not  many  of  means  of  the  extraordinary  and 

us  been  devils  one  unto  another,  so   long   continued    prosperity 

for  slanderings,  for  backbitings,  and    unparalleled    felicity   for 

for  animosities  ?  For  this  among  which  this  province  has  been 

other  causes,  perhaps,  Grod  has  long  so  justly  famed,  above  all 

permitted    the     devils    to    be  other  countries,  at  least  in  Amer- 

worrying,    as    they    now    are  ica,  if  not  in  the  whole  world; 

*See  Bailey's  Dictionary,  vol.  ii.  page  657. 


SACBATH    DAY.  171 

among  us.     But  it  is  higli  time  a  state,    in   some   respects,   so 

to  leave  oflF  all  devilism,  when  nearly  resembling  those  Satur- 

the  devil  himself  is  falling  upon  nian  times  in  Italy,  which,  we 

us  ;  and  it  is  no  time  for  us  to  are  told,  formerly  produced  the 

he  censuring  and  reviling  one  golden  age,  and  so  far  actually 

another  with  a  devilish  wrath ,  realizing  ancient  fable  to  its  in- 

when  the  wrath  of  the  devil  is  habitants,  perhaps,  before  any 

annoying  us." — Mather^ s  Booh  other  people  on  the  surface  of 

of  Witches,  page  Af).  the   globe." — Proud' s  History, 

vol.  ii.  page  235. 

I  am  quite  aware  that  statistics  are  not  to  be  im- 
plicitly relied  upon ;  but  bj  an  account  of  the  num- 
ber of  criminals  in  the  different  departments  of  France, 
the  average  appears  to  have  been  about  one  to  six 
thousand  inhabitants ;  in  the  north  there  was  one  crimi- 
nal to  3984  ;  in  the  south,  one  to  7584  ;  in  the  centre, 
one  to  8264.*  It  will  be  observed  this  was  among 
a  non-Sabbath-keeping  people. 

In  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  with  its  Sabbath- 
keeping  habits,  and  where  tithingmen  are  still  em- 
ployed to  see  that  the  day  is  observed,  there  was  one 
convict  for  2257  inhabitants.  In  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, where  the  day  is  less  observed,  there  was 
one  in  3300.  In  Virginia,  Avhere  it  is  probable  there  is 
still  greater  disregard  to  the  day,  there  is  one  convict 
to  5673  inliabitants.  The  convicts  on  an  average  for 
five  years  in  Virginia  were  189  persons,  and  it  is  re 
*  Annales  de  Hygiene,  tome  9. 


172  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

markable  that  the  average  is  about  the  same  whether 
we  include  the  colored  population  or  not.* 

Laing,  in  his  "Notes  of  a  Traveller,"  expresses  his 
belief  that  the  French,  among  w^hom  Sunday  is  ob" 
served  only  as  a  festival  devoted  to  social  enjoyment, 
are  a  more  honest  people  than  the  British.  He  says, 
"the  beggar,  though  hungry,  respects  the  fruit  on  the 
road-side  within  his  reach,  and  that  practical  morality 
is  more  generally  taught  in  France  than  in  any  other 
country  in  Europe." 

Dr.  Guthrie,  in  his  plea  on  behalf  of  drunkards, 
says,  he  spent  some  five  or  six  months  in  Paris ;  his 
avocations  led  him  often  through  the  worst  parts  of 
the  city,  and  he  saw  but  one  drunken  man,  and  no 
drunken  woman.  He  adds :  "we  saw  in  one  hour  in 
London  and  Edinburgh  every  day  more  drunkenness 
than  we  saw  in  Paris  in  five  long  months." 

These  are  curious  statements,  and  though  by  no 
means  conclusive,  they  are  worthy  of  serious  atten- 
tion. 

The  facts  connected  with  the  early  colonial  history, 
to  which  I  have  referred,  are  the  more  interesting, 
because  the  present  state  of  society  cannot  last  for- 
ever. Crime,  misery,  and  degradation,  are  stalking  as 
at  noonday  before  us,  penetrating  into  our  institutions 
and  turning  justice  backwards.     If  these  things  are 

*  See  Governor  McDonald's  message  on  the  colored  population, 
American  Almanac  for  1846,  and  Prisons  and  Prison  Discipline, 


SABBATH    DAY.  173 

to  increase  faster  than  the  ratio  of  population,  which 
it  is  believed  thej  now  do,  our  republican  institutions 
are  at  an  end  ;  and  our  beautiful  frame  of  government, 
the  boast  of  our  country,  can  exist  no  more. 

Since  the  foregoing  pages  have  been  sent  to  the 
press,  the  New  England  annual  festival  to  celebrate 
the  landing  of  the  Sabbatarian  Puritans  in  Plymouth, 
has  been  held  in  Philadelphia.  The  following  are  two 
of  the  toasts : 

"Our  Puritan  Fathers — Hard  as  the  rock  that  re- 
ceived them,  stern  as  the  shore  that  welcomed  them, 
and  sturdy  as  the  forests  that  surrounded  them.  They 
sowed  in  tears  the  seed  of  that  harvest  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  which  we  now  reap  in  joy." 

"  Old  Massachusetts — Mother  of  States  and  of 
ideas.  Her  leaven  causes  a  brisk  ejQfervescence,  and 
makes  the  whole  country  rise." 

I  refer  the  curious  reader  to  Besse's  Sufferings  of 
the  Quakers,  in  which  the  names  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy  Quakers  are  given  who  suffered  deeply  by  the 
persecutions  in  New  England. 

I  refer  also  to  a  work  of  upwards  of  500  pages, 
called  "  Puritanism,  or  a  Churchman's  Defence  against 
its  Aspersions,"  by  Thomas  W.  Coit,  D.  D.  Also  to 
a  work  by  George  Bishop,  called  "New  England 
judged  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,"  a  work  of  498 
pages.  Also  to  a  work  by  John  Whiting,  called 
"  Truth  and  Innocency  Defended,"  a  work  of  upwards 


174  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

of  200  pages ;    Hutchinson's  History,  3  vols.  ;  Ma- 
ther's Magnalia,  and  other  works. 

These  works  furnish  evidence  that  if  there  was 
any  one  principle  that  the  New  England  settlers 
were  more  opposed  to  than  others,  as  manifested  both 
in  word  and  deed,  it  was  that  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  Since  the  writer's  recollection,  the  law 
authorized  the  imprisonment  of  men  in  Massachusetts 
for  not  paying  a  tax  for  the  support  of  a  Chui'ch 
hierarchy,  with  which  they  had  no  more  connection 
than  with  that  of  the  Grand  Lama,  and  this  law  was 
carried  into  effect.  Neither  is  Massachusetts,  as  is 
claimed,  peculiarly  the  mother  of  ideas ;  these  are  the 
inspiration  of  God.  "  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and 
the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  him  under- 
standing." 

It  is  a  subject  of  regret  that  the  examination  of 
principles  connected  with  the  Sabbath  superstition 
should  lead,  even  by  remote  implication,  to  things 
that  are  personal,  with  which  they  have  nothing  to  do, 
but  such  deviations  from  correct  historical  facts  only 
serve  to  show  either  the  ignorance  of  the  writers,  or  a 
disposition  to  evade  the  truth. 


SABBATH   DAY.  175 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  SPIRITUAL  ELEMENT — THE  DOCTRINE  OP  THE   INNER 
LIGHT. 

An  apple  falling  to  the  groimd  suggested  to  Newton 
that  the  principle  of  gravitation  was  the  conservative 
principle  of  the  material  world.  It  had  with  unerring 
certainty  performed  its  office  from  the  beginning  of 
time,  yet  it  was  not  till  this  late  period  that  its  power 
and  influence  were  acknowledged.  Gradually  it  swept 
away,  never  to  return,  the  vortices  of  Germany,  the 
Grecian  peripatetic  philosophy  that  had  been  in  vogue 
for  thousands  of  years,  and  all  other  systems  that  had 
preceded  it,  and  established  itself  by  universal  con- 
sent, on  the  immutable  basis  of  truth.  Can  any  in- 
telligent mind  believe  that  the  Father  of  Mercies  has 
provided  a  conservative  power  to  preserve  and  uphold 
all  physical  things,  and  yet  has  left  man  a  prey  to 
chance ;  made  him  dependent  for  truth,  upon  the 
Scriptures,  which  so  late  as  the  year  1536  Tyndale  was 
bm'nt  at  the  stake  for  translating  into  the  English 
language,  and  which  at  a  much  later  period  were 
chained  to  the  altars  of  the  churches  to  prevent  the 
common  people  from  reading  them ;  which  the  Roman 
Catholics  forbid  to  be  read  except  under  their  super- 


176  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

vision,  and  which  the  Episcopalians  believe  should  be 
accompanied  by  a  prayer  book  formed  by  their  own 
hierarchy  ? 

Can  any  one  believe  that  this  book,  ambiguous  in 
its  language,  uncertain  in  its  conjectures,  is  designed 
by  the  Almighty  to  be  the  rule  of  life  for  man? 

The  history  of  the  Brownists  is  before  us,  and  so 
far  as  history  can  prove  any  thing,  it  proves  the  error 
of  such  a  conclusion. 

The  Newtonian  philosophy,  simple  and  natui-al  as 
it  is  now  acknowledged  to  be,  was  so  earnestly  resisted 
for  a  series  of  years,  that  it  finally  w^as  introduced  by 
stealth  into  the  Universities  of  England.  Yet  great 
as  were  the  contradictions  and  errors  of  natural  phi- 
losophy, in  mixing  superstition  and  theology,  and  de- 
ducing from  thence  the  most  extravagant  and  absurd 
results,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  there  were  more 
absurd  conclusions  in  physics  than  those  which  are 
embraced  in  the  dogmas  of  the  Christian  world. 

The  triumphs  of  science  are  identified  with  the 
triumphs  of  true  religion.  The  discoveries  in  Geology 
are  placing  Chronology  upon  a  more  certain  basis 
than  it  ever  had  before,  and  the  mind  cannot  rest 
upon  any  one  scientific  discovery  without  perceiving 
more  and  more  the  beauty  of  the  Divine  laws.  In  this 
there  is  great  and  increasing  hope  to  the  moralist,  to 
the  lover  of  truth  and  of  vital  religion,  because,  as 
certainly  as  true  science  is  taking  the  place  of  that 
which  in  former  ages  was  absurd  and  contradictory, 


SABBATH   DAY.  177 

SO  assuredly,  in  the  progress  of  events,  moral  science 
will  feel  the  influence  of  the  same  renovating  power. 

At  the  present  moment  physical  science  is  far  in 
advance  of  intellectual  science.  This  cannot  last 
forever.  Some  Newton  or  Plato  or  Bacon,  some 
apostle,  some  high-priest,  will  yet  arise  clothed  with 
power  and  strength  for  the  work  he  has  to  accomplish ; 
or  it  may  come  by  the  silent  but  still  powerful  opera- 
tion of  truth  in  individual  minds,  but  come  it -surely 
will ;  and  as  certainly  as  Newton's  philosophy  drove 
from  the  minds  of  men  that  of  Aristotle,  so  also  will 
moral  philosophy  be  placed  upon  a  basis  which  will 
extinguish  forever  all  the  dogmas  which  the  Brownists 
promulgated,  with  their  Sabbaths  and  superstitions,  to 
replace  them  by  principles  which  can  never  be  over- 
turned. Whenever  this  may  come,  and  not  before, 
we  may  look  for  a  renovation  in  moral  society,  the 
fulness  of  which  the  mind  can  hardly  conceive. 

The  existence  of  a  spiritual  element  in  man,  as  a 
guide  to  his  life,  would  seem  to  be  too  self-evident  to 
admit  of  doubt.  The  judge  who  appeals  to  the  cul- 
prit in  the  dock  acknowledges  this  principle ;  without 
it,  instead  of  being  a  subject  for  punishment,  he  would 
be  fit  for  the  madhouse.  It  is  the  man  within  the 
breast,  the  intuitive  feelings  of  his  own  heart,  that 
alone  is  capable  of  adapting  means  to  ends;  not  reason, 
which  is  but  the  deduction  of  things  from  each  other ; 
not  conscience,  which  is  liable  to  the  fluctuations  of 

15 


178  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

education  :  but  reason  and  conscience  enlightened  by 
convictions  "which  are  found  within.  To  trust  our  lives 
to  the  slow  operation  of  reason,  would  be  to  destroy 
them.  To  trust  our  actions  to  the  hasty  persuasions 
of  a  prejudiced  or  sectarian  mind,  would  lead  to  self- 
deception.  Yet  withal,  amidst  the  passions  and  weak- 
nesses that  assail  us,  wherein  we  may  not  be  able  at 
all  times  to  distinguish  right  from  wi'ong,  there  is  an 
underlying  sense  of  truth,  which  gives  strength  to 
our  pui'poses  and  a  confidence  to  our  lives  which  no- 
thing else  can  bestow. 

The  time  has  been  when  philosophy  was  believed  to 
be  opposed  to  religion  :  gradually  the  supposed  barriers 
have  been  broken  down,  investigations  into  the  divine 
laws  have  been  freely  made,  seeming  contradictions 
have  been  removed,  harmony  has  been  found  where 
there  was  supposed  to  be  discord,  and  if  not  already 
acknowledged,  every  thing  is  tending  to  this  issue, 
that  there  is  nothing  true  in  religion  that  is  not  true 
in  philosophy,  nor  in  philosophy  that  is  not  true  in 
religion. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  from  the  hesitations 
and  waverings  and  uncertainties  which  marked  the 
course  of  the  Brownists,  that  better  feelings  were 
struggling  within  them ;  but  unlike  the  plant  in  the 
partially  darkened  room,  which,  following  the  laws  of 
Divine  Providence,  turns  to  every  crack  where  the 
light  of  the  sun  shows  itself,  these  men  turned  their 


SABBATH    DAY.  179 

backs  to  the  light,  aud  thanked  God  that  they  had  a 
higher  and  a  better  way. 

It  would  hardly  be  too  much  to  say  that  all  the 
persecutions  in  the  ecclesiastical  world  may  be  traced 
to  this  one  fact,  that  men  have  laid  aside  the  instincts 
of  their  natui'e,  the  evidences  of  truth  which  they  find 
in  their  own  bosoms,  to  be  governed  by  the  written 
precepts  of  older  generations,  imperfect  and  often 
grossly  immoral,  and  which  can  never  be  a  certain 
criterion  to  the  men  of  the  present  day. 

The  senses,  according  to  then*  nature,  recognise  all 
outward  things ;  by  them  we  know  that  a  house  is  a 
house,  and  a  man  a  man,  but  purely  spiritual  truths 
are  not  recognised  by  the  senses,  and  cannot  be  re- 
ceived through  their  means.  The  senses  take  no  cog- 
nizance of  truth.  The  sense  of  beauty  is  wholly  an  in- 
tellectual perception.  Taste,  so  nearly  allied  to  beauty, 
is  an  afiair  of  the  mind.  Who  has  seen  with  his  eyes, 
joy,  hope,  or  volition?  These  are  spiritual  subjects, 
which  are  recognisedby  our  spiritual  natm'e,  and  by  that 
alone.  They  are  intuitive,  and  are  to  be  traced  to  the 
immediate  revelation  of  God,  and  nothinor  to  else.  The 
metaphysical  proposition  so  prevalent  thi'oughout  the 
world,  that  all  om'  ideas  come  from  the  senses,  and 
that  they  are  to  be  judged  of  by  experience,  is  efiect 
without  cause,  reaction  without  action,  experience 
without  basis,  and  as  such  is  unphilosophical  as  well 


180  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

as  irreligious,  and  unworthy  of  the  intelligence  of  a 
rational  mind. 

The  mind  without  the  senses  cannot  comprehend 
colors,  neither  can  the  senses  without  the  mind  compre- 
hend truth.  The  one  is  physical,  the  other  is  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual. 

All  that  hooks  or  preaching  can  do,  is  to  refer  man  to 
sensations  which  are  already  in  his  own  soul — to  awaken 
him  to  himself.  Were  it  not  so,  all  words  would  he  as 
vain  as  if  spoken  to  an  inanimate  ohject.  Every  thing 
spiritual  we  understand  from  the  spiritual  nature  in  our- 
selves, the  divine  by  the  divine ;  and  just  in  proportion 
as  the  divine  nature  is  awakened  in  man,  so  is  he  in 
communion  with  the  Divine  Mind,  and  can  understand 
divine  things.  The  converse  also  may  be  assumed  to 
be  true,  that  men  conceive  of  sin  in  proportion  as  they 
are  allied  to  its  nature.  Yet  moral  offences,  outward 
in  their  character  and  recognised  by  the  senses,  are 
seen  by  all  alike. 

We  enjoy  a  brilliant  sunset  by  the  sense  of  beauty 
which  is  within  us ;  without  this,  the  outward  object 
would  give  us  no  pleasure.  Words  are  like  diction- 
aries, which  give  forms  to  our  sensations  and  awaken 
the  spiritual  energies.  The  enjoyment  which- particu- 
lar expressions  convey  is  only  because  they  meet  con- 
current sentiments  with  us. 

We  believe  these  to  be  unchangeable  philosophical 
truths ;  and  if  so,  they  put  an  end  to  the   popular 


SABBATH    DAY.  181 

delusion  that  the  Scriptui'es  are  the  rule  of  life, 
and  establish  in  its  place  that  sublime  idea  of  the 
constant  omnipresence  of  God,  comforting  us  in  our 
affliction,  and  guiding  us  according  to  his  own  pur- 
poses through  all  the  intricate  scenes  of  our  exist- 
ence. 

The  world  is  perhaps  more  indebted  to  John  Locke 
for  this  material  philosophy,  which  looks  to  the  senses 
as  the  som'ce  of  all  truth,  than  to  any  other  person. 
I  have  found  the  following  beautiful  letter  addressed 
to  some  Quaker  women  whom  he  had  heard  preach. 
It  was  written  during  the  latter  period  of  his  life, 
when  he  was  nearly  seventy  years  of  age,  and  may  be 
understood  as  a  refutation  of  that  sensuous  theory  for 
which  he  has  been  so  celebrated,  and  an  admission  of 
the  beauty  of  that  spiritual  philosophy  to  which  we 
have  referred. 

"  My  sweet  Friends^ — A  paper  of  sweetmeats  by 
the  bearer  to  attend  your  journey,  comes  to  testify 
the  sweetness  I  found  in  your  society.  I  admire  no 
converse  like  that  of  Christian  freedom,  and  fear  no 
bondage  like  that  of  pride  and  prejudice.  I  now  see 
that  acquaintance  by  sight  cannot  reach  that  height 
of  enjoyment  which  acquaintance  by  knowledge 
arrives  unto.  Outward  hearing  may  misguide  us,  but 
internal  knowledge  cannot  err ;  we  have  something 
here  of  what  we  shall  have  hereafter,  to  know  as  we 
are  known,  and  this  we  with  other  friends  were  even 

15^^ 


182  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

at  first  view  partakers  of;  and  the  more  there  is  of 
this  in  the  life,  the  less  we  need  enquire  of  what  na- 
tion, country,  party  or  persuasion  our  friends  are,  for 
our  knowledge  is  more  sure  than  another's  is  to  us  ; 
this  we  know  when  we  have  believed. 

Now  the  God  of  all  grace  grant  that  you  may  hold 
fast  that  rare  grace  of  Love  and  Charity,  that  un- 
biassed and  unbounded  love,  which,  if  it  decays  not, 
will  spring  up  mightily  as  the  waters  of  the  sanctuary, 
higher  and  higher,  till  you  with  the  Universal  Church 
swim  together  in  the  ocean  of  Divine  Love. 

Women  indeed  had  the  honor  first  to  publish  the 
resurrection  of  the  Spirit  of  Love,  and  let  all  the 
Disciples  of  Christ  rejoice  herein,  as  doth 

Your  partner,  John  Locke. 

Gray's  Inn,  Nov.  21st,  1696." 

Of  the  being  and  existence  of  God,  no  rational 
man  doubts. 

It  has  indeed  been  said  that  there  are  nations  so 
degraded  as  to  have  no  name  for  God  or  for  Heaven. 
To  understand  the  attributes  of  God  is  to  know  God. 
And  if  there  is  any  nation  or  any  people  who  know 
not  good  from  evil,  they  must  necessarily  become  ex- 
tinct, because  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  is 'as  need- 
ful to  the  existence  of  man,  as  the  air  that  he  breathes 
or  the  food  that  nourishes  him.* 

Bancroft,  vol.  i.  page  447,  says,  "  Atheism  is  a  folly 

""^"  See  Types  of  Mankind. 


SABBATH    DAY.  183 

of  the  metaphysician,  not  the  folly  of  human  nature." 
Of  savage  life  ''•  Roger  Williams  declared  that  he  had 
never  found  one  native  American  who  denied  the  ex- 
istence of  a  God.  "Men  revolt  against  the  oppressions 
of  superstition,  the  exactions  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny, 
but  never  against  religion  itself." 

Not  only  the  existence  of  God  is  deeply  impressed 
upon  the  minds  of  men,  but  a  conviction  also  of  his  omni- 
presence, as  a  necessary  attribute  to  his  sovereignty. 
Every  man  is  a  praying  man.  In  his  wants  and  de- 
sires, selfish  indeed  as  they  generally  are,  in  his  suf- 
ferings and  distresses,  his  appeals  and  aspirations  are 
unto  God,  and  herein  he  recognises  his  omnipresence. 
Thus,  Hagar  when  she  was  cast  out  of  the  house  of 
Abraham,  used  these  touching  words  :  "  Thou  God 
seest  me,"  and  in  the  sorrows  and  sadness  which  over- 
take us  there  is  deep  consolation  in  the  idea  that  we 
are  the  creatures  of  an  ever  present  and  beneficent 
Creator,  who  does  all  things  well  and  wisely. 

This  omnipresence  has  been  recognised  by  the 
masses  of  men  in  all  ages  and  countries :  it  has  also 
found  its  philosophical  advocates  among  many  of  the 
most  profound  thinkers.  The  Pundits  of  Hindoostan, 
the  most  learned  men  of  the  East,  introduce  the 
Supreme  Being  as  the  immediate  cause  of  every  efiect, 
however  trivial.  According  to  the  Brahmins,  all  the 
motions  of  the  universe  are  caused  by  the  immediate 
agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God.* 

*  Ency.  Brit.  14,  574. 


184  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

Malebranche,  a  French  pMlosopher,  one  of  the 
deepest  and  most  acute  men  who  ever  lived,  rejected 
all  idea  of  discovering  truth,  (intellectual  truth,)  by  the 
senses  and  laying  aside  all  books,  his  favorite 
maxim  was,  that  "He  saw  all  things  in  God."* 

It  was  one  of  the  beautiful  ideas  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
that  every  motion  from  gravity  or  other  inanimate 
sources,  was  identified  with  the  continued  volition  of 
the  Deity. 

Dr.  Samuel  Clark  observes,  "All  those  effects 
which  we  commonly  say  are  the  effects  of  the  natural 
powers  of  matter  and  laws  of  motion,  of  gravitation, 
attraction,  and  the  like,  are  indeed  (if  we  ^eak  strictly 
and  properly)  the  effect  of  God  acting  upon  matter 
continually  and  every  moment."  (Works,  vol.  ii.  698, 
folio.) 

Dugald  Stewart  on  this  subject  says:  "There  are 
insurmountable  objections  to  every  other  doctrine  than 
that  which  supposes  the  order  of  the  universe  to  be 
not  only  at  first  established,  but  every  moment  main- 
tained by  the  incessant  agency  of  one  supreme  mind  I 
a  doctrine  against  which  no  objection  can  be  stated, 
but  what  is  founded  on  prejudices  resulting  from  our 
own  imperfections.  (Vol.  iii.  Stewart's  Works,  p.  442.) 
Agassiz,  in  his  present  work  on  Zoology,  has  re- 
corded corresponding  sentiments  respecting  the  spirit- 

'•^  See  Stewart's  Philosophy,  vol.  iii. 


SABBATH    DAY,  185 

ual  nature  of  many  and  his  affinity  to  the  Divine 
Mind. 

*'  Do  we  not  find,"  he  says,  ''  in  this  adaptability  of 
the  human  intellect  to  the  facts  of  creation,  by  which 
we  become  instinctively,  and  as  I  have  said  uncon- 
sciously, the  translators  of  the  thoughts  of  God,  the 
most  conclusive  proof  of  our  affinity  with  the  Divine 
Mind  ?  And  is  not  this  intellectual  and  spiritual  con- 
nection with  the  Almighty  worthy  our  deepest  con- 
sideration ?  *  *  It  is  surely  not  amiss  for  the  philoso- 
pher to  endeavor,  by  the  study  of  his  own  mental 
operations,  to  approximate  the  workings  of  the  Divine 
reason,  learning  from  the  nature  of  his  own  mind 
better  to  understand  the  infinite  intellect  from  which 
it  is  derived.  *  *  Who  is  the  truly  humble,  but  he 
who  penetrating  into  the  secrets  of  creation,  recog- 
nises his  glorious  affinity  w^ith  the  Creator,  and  in 
deepest  gratitude  for  so  sublime  a  birthright,  strives 
to  be  the  faithful  interpreter  of  that  Divine  intellect 
with  whom  he  is  permitted,  nay,  with  whom  he  is  in- 
tended, according  to  the  ^^laws  of  his  being,  to  enter 
into  communion."* 

It  may  be  said  without  fiction,  that  no  man  has 
ever  seen  his  fellow  man.  He  sees  an  extended  body, 
with  head  and  hands  and  feet,  but  the  spirit  that 
animates  them,  that  gives  them  all  their  value,  no  eye 
hath  ever  seen.     Yet  this  unseen  essence,  this  spirit 

*  Coutiibutions  to  Natural  History,  vol.  i.  p.  8. 


18G  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

or  whatever  else  it  may  be  called,  originates  all  the 
work  in  the  material  world,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  so  far  as  it  is  in  unison  with  the  Divine  harmony, 
everything  upon  which  it  operates,  from  the  lowest  to 
the  most  exalted,  is  perfected.  Natural  and  moral 
philosophy,  all  the  different  kingdoms  of  the  animal 
and  vegetable  world,  every  art  and  every  science, 
have  their  only  sure  basis  in  the  Divine  harmony,  and 
this  is  manifested  as  perfectly  in  the  dew  drop  on  the 
spear  of  grass  as  in  the  ocean. 

Most  sublime,  indeed,  is  the  idea  that  things  that 
seem  so  arbitrary  as  taste,  beauty  and  architecture, 
law,  morals,  and  that  which  is  above  all  others  con- 
fused, metaphysics,  have  each  a  foundation,  sure  and 
steadfast,  which,  though  unseen  and  unappreciable,  no 
man  can  remove. 

The  plummet  and  square,  held  in  the  hands  of  an 
obscure  mechanic,  point  to  principles  whose  source  is 
God.  Any  deviation  from  these  in  the  building  he 
may  erect,  is  a  deviation  from  the  Divine  harmony. 
The  roof  is  needful  for  the  foundation,  and  the  foun- 
dation for  the  roof,  the  beam  and  the  rafter  are 
adapted  to  each  other ;  and  the  humblest  as  well  as  the 
most  elaborate  structure  has  special  proportions  which 
are  never  deviated  from  with  impunity. 

Ruskin,  the  author  of  several  works  upon  archi- 
tecture, confirms  the  same  idea  in  its  application  to 
the  fine  arts.  He  says,  that  it  was  only  when  the  bull 
of  Clement  V.  had  excommunicated  the  Yenetians  and 


SABBATH    DAY.  187 

their  Doge,  likening  them  to  Dathan,  Abiram,  Ab- 
salom, and  Lucifer,  and  when  individual  religion  en- 
tered into  all  the  concerns  of  life,  giving  a  serenity 
of  mind,  and  energy  to  all  their  actions, — it  was  then 
only  that  the  fine  arts  flourished  in  Italy ;  as  this  de- 
clined, their  spirit  dwindled  down,  and  the  authors 
became  copyists  one  of  another.* 

The  following  remarks,  by  the  same  author,  are  so 
beautiful,  that  I  cannot  omit  them : — 

^'  Though  it  may  not  be  necessarily  the  interest  of 
religion  to  admit  the  service  of  the  arts,  the  arts 
will  never  flourish  until  they  have  been  primarily  de- 
voted to  that  service — devoted,  both  by  architect  and 
employer ;  by  the  one,  in  scrupulous,  earnest,  affec- 
tionate design ;  by  the  other,  in  expenditure,  at  least 
more  frank,  at  least  less  calculating,  than  that  which 
he  would  admit  in  the  indulgence  of  his  own  private 
feelings.  Let  this  principle  be  but  once  fairly  ac- 
knowledged among  us,  and  however  it  may  be  chilled 
and  repressed  in  practice,  however  feeble  may  be  its 
'real  influence,  however  the  sacredness  of  it  may  be 
diminished  by  counter-workings  of  vanity  and  self  in- 
terest, yet,  its  mere  acknowledgement  would  bring 
a  reward ;  and  with  our  present  accumulation  of  means 
and  of  intellect,  there  would  be  such  an  impulse  and 
vitality  given  to  art,  as  it  has  not  felt  since  the  thir- 
teenth century.  *  *  *  The  influence  to  which  I  refer 

*  Stones  of  Venice,  page  89. 


188  INSTITUTION   OP  THE 

would  be  the  natural  result  of  doing  our  best  in  all 
things."  Again — "However  mean  or  inconsiderable 
the  act,  there  is  something  in  the  well  doing  of  it 
which  has  fellowship  with  the  noblest  forms  of  manly 
virtue.  *  *  *  Thus,  every  action,  down  even  to  the 
drawing  of  a  line  or  utterance  of  a  syllable,  is  capable 
of  a  peculiar  dignity  in  the  manner  of  it,  which  we  some- 
times express  by  saying  it  is  truly  done,  (as  a  line  or 
tone  is  true ;)  so  also,  it  is  capable  of  dignity  still 
higher  in  the  motive  of  it.  For  there  is  no  action  so 
slight,  nor  so  mean,  but  it  may  be  done  to  a  great  pur- 
pose, and  ennobled  therefore  ;  nor  is  any  purpose  so 
great,  but  that  slight  actions  may  help  it  much,  most 
especially  that  chief  of  all  purposes,  the  pleasing  of 
of  God."     Hence  George  Herbert, — 

"A  servant  with  this  clause 
Makes  drudgery  divine ; 
Who  sweeps  a  room,  as  for  thy  laws, 
Makes  that  and  the  action  fine." 

Mozart,  on  being  asked  by  Baron  V ,  as  to  his 

manner  of  composing,  gave,  in  substance,  this  re-plj : 
"  I  would  willingly  pass  over  your  request  in  silence, 
for  my  pen  denies  its  service  ;  still  I  will  try.  When 
I  am,  as  it  were,  completely  myself,  entirely  alone, 
my  ideas  flow  best  and  most  abundantly ;  whence  and 
how  they  come,  I  know  not,  nor  can  I  force  them. 
If  I  continue  in  this  way,  it  soon  occui'S  to  me  how  I 
may  turn  this  or  that  morsel  to  account.  All  this 
fires  my  soul,  and   although  the  subject  be  long,  it 


SABBATH   DAY.  189 

stands  almost  complete  and  finished  in  my  mind,  as  a 
beautiful  picture.  Nor  do  I  hear  the  parts  succes- 
sively, but  all  at  once.  All  this  takes  place  in  a 
pleasing,  lively  dream.  What  has  been  thus  produced 
I  do  not  easily  forget,  and  this  is,  perhaps,  the  best 
gift  I  have  to  thank  my  Divine  Master  for."* 

Hooker  speaks  in  the  following  sublime  strain  of 
laAV,  and  which  Sir  William  Jones  says  is  the  founda- 
tion of  all  human  law.  "  Of  law,  there  can  be  no 
less  acknowledged,  than  that  her  seat  is  the  bosom  of 
God,  her  service  the  harmony  of  the  world ;  all  things 
in  heaven  and  earth  do  her  homage ;  the  very  least  as 
feeling  her  care,  and  the  greatest  as  not  exempted 
from  her  power ;  both  angels  and  men,  and  creatures 
of  what  condition  soever,  though  each  in  different 
sort  and  manner,  yet  all,  with  uniform  consent,  ad- 
miring her  as  the  mother  of  their  peace  and  joy."t 

It  is  a  remark  of  Dugald  Stewart,  that  the  most 
important  discoveries,  both  in  moral  and  physical  sci- 
ence, have  been  made  by  men  friendly  to  the  princi- 
ples of  natural  religion.  (Vol.  iii.  page  464  of  Stew- 
art's works.)  Natural  religion  is  the  intuitive  religion 
of  the  heart ;  the  true  and  only  revealed  religion ; 
yet  sectarians  speak  of  it  in  opposition  to  what  they 
term  "  pevealed  religion,"  the  source  of  which  is 
the  Scriptures,  and  which  is  conveyed  to  them  by 
outward  means,  within  the  control  of  man  ;  a  doc- 

^  See  Life  of  Mozart, 
f  Life  of  Sir  Wiiliam  Jones,  p.  333. 
16 


190  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

trine  from  which  flowed  so  much  error  and  confusion 
to  the  early  inhabitants  of  New  England,  and  which 
is  but  a  system  of  materialism  and  idolatry. 

It  is  this  vital  religion  that  we  speak  of  as  being 
connected  with  every  work  of  art.  Every  machine 
coming  from  the  hands  of  man,  so  far  as  it  is  per- 
fect, must  be  consistent  with  the  religious  element  of 
man's  nature.  Without  this,  a  house  could  not  be  built, 
or  a  machine  constructed. 

Men  are  so  prone  to  become  copyists,  that  they 
little  consider  the  principles  upon  which  they  act,  or 
the  source  of  the  intelligence  which  they  possess,  yet 
even  the  knowledge  which  a  man  has  of  his  own  exist- 
ence, which  seems  above  all  others  a  self-evident  truth, 
can  have  no  other  source  than  divine  revelation  to  his 
soul.  So  far  as  we  know,  this  knowledge  is  peculiar 
to  man. 

In  Exodus  xxxi.  it  is  mentioned  that  "The  Lord  spake 
unto  Moses,  saying,  I  have  filled  Bazaleel  with  wis- 
dom and  understanding  to  devise  cunning  works  ;  to 
work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass,  and  in  cut- 
ting stones."  And  it  may  be  assumed  as  an  un- 
changeable truth,  that  in  proportion  as  the  mind  of 
man  is  perfect,  so  will  his  works  be  perfect,  be  they 
what  they  may.  No  other  conclusion  can  be  arrived 
at,  unless  we  deny  the  unalterable  sequence  between 
cause  and  effect. 

In  every  work  of  art,  there  is  a  point  of  perfection 
in  which  each  part  will  harmonize  with  every  other 


SABBATH    DAY.  191 

part.  The  mechanic  congratulates  himself,  when  he 
simplifies  his  work ;  its  perfection  is  in  the  fulfilment 
of  the  divine  laws ;  all  that  man  can  do  is  to  trace 
out  these  laws,  and  in  proportion  as  individual  minds 
are  in  harmony  Avith  them,  may  they  be  relied  upon  as 
being  better  artificers,  better  lawyers,  merchants,  or 
mechanics. 

Agassiz  suggests  that  ''  those  systems  to  which  we 
have  given  the  names  of  the  great  leaders  of  our 
science,  are  in  truth  but  translations  into  human  lan- 
guage of  the  thoughts  of  the  Creator."  May  we  not 
extend  these  ideas  into  every  other  science  ?  Astro- 
nomy, geology,  chemistry,  botany,  each  has  its  own 
laws,  traced  by  men,  but  originated  and  perfected  by 
the  Divine  mind.  As  in  science,  so  also  in  moral  af- 
fairs. The  desire  of  association  appears  to'be  inherent 
in  man :  what  then  more  interesting  than  civil  and  re- 
ligious government  ?  In  proportion  as  these  approxi- 
mate to  the  fulfilment  of  the  divine  laws,  they  ap- 
proach perfection.  There  is  a  harmony  for  each  con- 
sistent wdth  itself,  yet  by  a  mystical  communion,  em- 
bracing in  a  universal  harmony  all  science  and  all 
moral  afi'airs,  so  that  they  become,  as  it  were,  brethren 
to  each  other.  In  its  application  to  the  spiritual  nature 
of  man,  it  is  to  be  found  by  him  in  his  own  bosom,  and 
there  alone,  and  it  may  be  assumed  that  those  conten- 
tions which  are  witnessed  in  religious  associations  in 
a  reasonably  correct  community,  arise  from  the  at- 


192  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

tempts  to  harmonize  contradictory  and  discordant 
elements.  If  these  views  are  true,  we  have  at  once 
the  origin  and  the  natural  remedy  of  evils  which 
sometimes  seem  obscure.  Without  reaching  the  cause 
of  the  evil,  we  may  ask  for  peace,  but  no  peace  will 
come.  A  Sabbath-day  religion  being,  as  we  have 
shown,  out  of  this  universal  harmony,  its  enforcement, 
instead  of  reforming  the  world,  is  productive  of  evil. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   SCRIPTURE — THE  CLERGY. 

There  is  perhaps  no  country  upon  earth  so  deeply 
interested  in  upholding  correct  moral  sentiments  as 
the  United  States.  In  most  of  the  nations  of  Eu- 
rope, and  perhaps  throughout  the  world,  there  are 
Emperors  or  Kings,  Princes  or  Potentates,  with  su- 
preme power,  to  hold  in  check  the  excesses  of  popular 
excitement.  In  this  country,  the  sovereignty  is  in 
the  people  themselves ;  if  they  become  degraded,  it  is 
easy  to  imagine  that,  from  having  the  best,  we  may 
have  the  worst  government  in  the  world — a  many- 
headed  monster,  combining  a  greater  evil  than  the 
despotisms  of  foreign  countries,  evil  as  they  may  be; 
so  that  it  becomes  a  more  serious  question  here  than 
elsewhere,  to  consider  the  best  means  by  which  society 
can  be  regulated  and  reformed. 


SABBATH    DAY.  193 

In  a  country  increasing  so  rapidly  as  the  United 
States,  the  asylum  of  foreigners  of  every  descrip- 
tion, without  accurate  statistics  it  is  nolT  easy  to  ar- 
rive at  any  conclusion  respecting  the  relative  increase 
of  crime  ;  but  there  is  at  least  a  general  sentiment 
that  since  the  country  became  an  independent  na- 
tion, moral  depravity  has  increased  faster  than  popu- 
lation. There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  this  is 
the  case  in  political  affairs  :  there  is  a  want  of  moral 
integrity — a  degradation  in  our  government,  such  as 
never  was  known  for  many  years  after  the  period  of 
the  American  Revolution ;  and  it  becomes  a  grave 
consideration  how  the  problem  of  our  government  is  to 
work  itself  out. 

All  may  agree  that  correct  elementary  principles 
will  inevitably  produce  fruit  according  to  their  kind, 
but  the  serious  question  occurs,  how  are  these  to  be 
attained  ?  in  what  w^ay  shall  they  be  instilled  into  the 
minds  of  men?  The  historical  evidences  w^hich  have 
been  referred  to,  may  throw  some  light  upon  this  in- 
tricate question.  The  colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
from  the  period  when  the  Puritans  first  landed,  in  the 
year  1620,  till  the  revolution  in  1688,  were  engaged 
in  an  effort  to  produce  uniformity  of  opinion,  under 
the  mistaken  idea  that  spiritual  intelligence  could  be 
received  through  the  senses.  This  philosophy  still 
remains  among  us;  it  is  taught  in  our  schools,  and 
preached  from  our  pulpits,  producing  principles  radi- 

16=^ 


194  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

cally  wrong,  and  dangerous  to  the  well-being  of  so- 
ciety. The  authority  of  the  laws  of  Moses,  which  was 
adhered  to  by  the  Puritans,  has  greatly  lessened,  but 
the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  generally,  among 
those  who  profess  to  be  the  teachers  of  men,  remains 
in  its  pristine  vigor ;  and  if  our  reasoning"  is  true,  such 
a  doctrine  is  of  incalculable  evil  to  the  morals  and 
welfare  of  society. 

From  infancy,  children  are  instructed  that  this 
book  is  ''  the  word  of  God,"  the  "  revelation  of  his 
will,  the  guide  of  life,"  and  with  these  preconceived 
opinions,  false  in  their  very  nature,  every  effort  to  re- 
form society  fails. 

No  serious,  intelligent  mind  would  be  disposed  to 
lessen  a  proper  regard  for  the  Scriptures,  as  contain- 
ing the  oldest  historical  data,  and  the  experience  of  pious 
and  excellent  men ;  they  have  in  their  vast  compass  a 
value  which  belongs  to  no  other  book ;  but  there  is  a 
spirit  that  underlies  them,  which  produced  them,  which 
existed  before  they  were  created,  and  which  we  may 
suppose  will  continue  to  exist  when  they  shall  be  no 
more  ;  and  this  is  that  principle  which  children  should 
be  taught  as  the  guide  of  their  life,  which  is  ever 
present  with  them,  and  which  contains  in  itself  the 
elements  of  that  reformation  which  society  most 
needs.  We  are  not  questioning  the  devoted  piety  of 
those  who  think  otherwise,  but  we  desire  to  expose 
those  influences  which,  in  despite  of  every  effort  to  re- 
form the  world,  produce  evil. 


SABBATH    DAY.  195 

These  are  not  visionary  ideas.  As  we  have  stated 
ill  a  former  part  of  this  work,  their  truth  is  practi- 
cally demonstrated  in  parts  of  this  country,  where  the 
idolatry  of  the  Bible  has  but  little  existence.  They 
are  demonstrated  in  every  individual  who  is  adhering 
to  his  own  perceptions  of  truth  and  justice,  and  it 
may  be  assumed  that  there  are  many  such  in  every 
nation,  kindred,  and  people  under  heaven. 

It  appears  to  be  a  self-evident  truth,  that  every 
crime  and  every  suffering  that  is  induced  by  man, 
must  have  a  remedy  within  man's  control.  Most  of 
the  evils  under  which  men  suffer,  are  the  natural  ef- 
fects of  derangements  in  society,  arising  from  wrong 
elementary  principles.  It  is  stated,  that  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  during  the  last  year,  1858,  there  were 
fifty  murders ;  assuredly,  there  is  some  remedy  for  a 
disease  so  appalling.  If  none  other,  a  severe  mili- 
tary despotism,  to  preserve  order,  is  preferable 
to  a  mild  republican  government :  or  will  sectarians 
believe  that  severe  Sabbath  enactments  will  cure  the 
evil  ?  On  the  contrary,  experience  teaches  us  that  in 
their  very  nature  they  Avill  increase  it. 

We  have,  at  the  present  period,  in  this  country, 
two  remarkable  instances  of  the  errors  and  absurdities 
flowing  from  an  authoritative  religion.  The  Shakers 
in  the  East,  are  conducting  their  economy  in  a  state 
of  celibacy.  Under  the  dictation  of  their  assumed 
prophetess,  Anne   Lee,   sustained  and  supported,   of 


196  INSTITUTION   or   THE 

course^  by  Scripture  evidence,  no  marrying  or  giving 
in  marriage  is  allowed  among  them.  Under  this 
system,  they  have  for  a  long  time  sustained  various 
establishments,  seemingly  in  contradiction  to  the  Di- 
vine laws.  In  the  West,  there  are  the  Mormons, 
claiming  that  polygamy,  or  a  plurality  of  wives,  is 
the  true  economy  of  life.  This  also  they  sustain  by 
the  Scriptures  ;  and  there  probably  are  few  religious 
societies  in  this  widely  extended  country,  where  it  may 
be  assumed  that  upwards  of  fifty  different  languages 
are  spoken,  and  as  many  different  sects  exist,  who  are 
not  contending  respecting  the  dogmas  they  obtain  from 
the  Scriptm-es.  The  evils  of  an  authoritative  religion 
are  not  confined  to  Christianity.  The  burning  of 
widows  on  the  funeral  pyres  of  their  deceased  husbands, 
so  long  practised  in  India,  is  to  be  traced  to  the  un- 
certain dogmas  of  the  Yedas,  the  sacred  books  of  the 
Hindoos.* 

Foxton,  an  intelligent  Episcopal  clergyman,  in  his 
work   on  Popular  Christianity,  makes  this  remark  : — 

"We  find  in  the  Scriptures,  every  evidence  of 
human  infirmity,  both  in  the  writers  and  in  the  re- 
cord, that  can  possibly  be  conceived,  and  yet  we  are 
to  believe,  on  their  authority,  facts  the  most  repulsive 
to  common  sense ;  that  the  order  of  nature  was 
changed,  and  the  law  of  gravitation  suspended  in  the 
valleys  of  Palestine,  and  that  God  himself  specially 

■^''  See  "^A'orks  of  Rninolian  Roy. 


SABBATH    DAY.  19T 

inspired  them  with  false  philosophy,  vicious  logic,  and 
bad  grammar.  This  is  certainly  the  popular  notion 
of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptui'es,  and  the  great 
mass  of  the  Christian  world  are  at  this  moment,  in- 
stead of  worshipping  God,  worshipping  the  Bible — 
putting  the  assumed  record  of  God's  will  before  the 
'  inward  witness '  of  his  Spirit.  But  can  such  a  be- 
lief as  this  long  survive  in  an  age  of  intelligent  in- 
quiry ?  A  juster  and  more  rational  idea  of  God's 
dealings  with  us  is  fast  spreading  through  the  Chris- 
tian world.  The  sublime  philosophy  of  the  gospel 
teaches  us  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  poured  upon  all 
flesh.  *  *  *  *  The  human  soul  has  sympathy  and 
comprehension  for  the  God  dwelling  within  us,  but 
the  spiritual  idea  is  degraded  and  lost  by  asso- 
ciation with  a  material  substance."  (Popular  Chris- 
tianity, p.  73.) 

In  some  beautiful  remarks  made  by  Bobertson,  the 
late  incumbent  of  Trinity  Chapel,  Brighton,  he  is 
very  distinct  upon  the  subject,  that  the  revelation  of 
God,  respecting  things  of  a  spiritual  nature,  cannot 
be  received  through  the  medium  of  the  senses.  "  No 
revelation,"  he  says,  "can  be  adequately  given  by  the 
address  of  man  to  man,  either  by  writing  or  orally." - 
"  The  highest  revelation  is  not  made  by  Christ,  but 
comes  directly  from  the  universal  mind;  so  that 
apostles  themselves,  and  prophets,  speaking  to  the 
ear,    cannot    reveal   truth   to   the   soul :    no,  not  if 


lyb  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

God  himself'  were  to  touch  their  lips  with  fire.  A 
verbal  revelation  is  only  a  revelation  to  the  ear."* 

These  extracts  are  worthy  of  more  particular  re- 
mark, as  coming  from  that  class  of  men,  who  from 
dwelling  upon  authority,  and  reverencing  ancient 
dogmas,  appear  to  be  most  ignorant  on  that  subject 
which  they  profess  to  teach. 

I  touch  upon  the  subject  of  the  clergy  with  regret, 
because  I  am  liable  to  be  misunderstood ;  yet  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  mainly  through  their  influ- 
ence that  the  Sabbath  superstition  is  spread  through 
the  country.  There  are  many  individuals  among 
them,  humble-minded  and  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
truth,  whose  feelings  I  would  not  willingly  wound  ;  I 
would  rather  contribute  to  build  them  up  than  pull 
them  down ;  but  the  system  of  paying  men  for  preach- 
ing and  praying  is  liable  to  great  abuse.  It  is  hardly 
possible,  in  the  nature  of  man,  that  a  class  of  society 
should  be  receiving  pay  for  their  services,  and  not  be 
influenced  thereby.  In  the  nature  of  things,  they 
will  avoid  such  doctrines  as  are  repugnant  to  those 
who  give  them  bread. 

Lord  Brougham,  in  his  speech  on  the  Irish  elective 
franchise  bill,  says,  "  Perjury  ought  certainly  to  be 
discountenanced,  but  we  are  not  the  persons  to  dis- 
franchise for  that  offence,  or  we  may  disfranchise  our" 
selves."  *  =«^  *  "  How  will  the  reverend  bishops  of 

-■  First  Sermon. 


SABBATH    DAY.  109 

the  other  house  bo  able  to  express  their  due  abhor- 
rence of  such  a  crime,  who  solemnly  declare  in  the 
presence  of  their  God,  that  when  they  are  called  upon 
to  accept  a  living,  perhaps  of  J^4000  a  year,  at  that 
very  instant,  they  are  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
accept  the  office  and  administration  thereof,  and  for 
no  other  reason  whatever."* 

The  first  day  of  the  week  is  the  great  harvest  day 
of  the  clergy ;  hence  so  little  reliance  is  to  be  placed 
upon  any  thing  they  say  upon  the  subject.  Where 
a  deep  pecuniary  interest  is  at  stake,  evidence  from 
the  party  concerned  is  not  received  in  any  Court 
in  the  United  States. 

The  good  and  excellent  men  among  them,  do  not 
change  the  effects  of  the  system.  In  the  Southern 
States,  the  established  clergy  uphold  and  justify 
slavery ;  in  the  Nortli  they  condemn  it.  They  are 
found  in  armies  directly  opposed  to  each  other,  ask- 
ing blessings  on  each,  and  the  inference  is  obvious 
that  many  of  them  would  take  either  side  of  the  Sab- 
bath question,  as  their  interest  might  dictate.  A 
large  number  of  young  men  are  annually  to  be  pro- 
vided for,  and  it  is  a  natural  consequence  that  as 
the  Sabbath  supports  them,  they  will  support  the 
Sabbath. 

The  clergy,  from  the  time  of  the  dark  ages,  (when 
churches  and  monasteries  contained  the  learning  of 
the  world,)  have  had  an  influence  to  which  they  were 
^'  Morning  Chronicle,  April  '21,  1825. 


200  IXSTITUTION    OF   THE 

never  entitled.  In  the  present  day,  as  ther  cannot 
control  literature,  they  have  been  found  willing  to 
pervert  it,  to  serve  their  own  pui-poses.  and  to  uphold 
their  power.  "*"  Hence  in  an  inquiry  for  truth,  great 
caution  is  to  he  observed  in  receiving  statements 
emanating  from  them.  This  observation  applies 
with  peculiar  force  to  their  accounts  of  the  morality 
and  religion  of  Pagan  nations.  Their  prejudices  are 
so  deep,  and  their  interests  so  immediate,  that  it  is 
scarcely  possible  that  then-  statements  should  be  cor- 
rect. 

A  little  inquii-y  will  convince  us.  that  whether  in 
religion  or  literatui*e,  the  clergy  have  always  been 
behind  the  age  ;  from  them  have  emanated  all  the 
persecutions  which  have  disgraced  the  name  of  reli- 
gion ;  to  them  we  may  trace  the  opposition  which  has 
so  often  obscured  for  a  time  the  light  of  science, 
and  in  many  instances  consigned  its  disciples — the 
benefactors  of  mankind,  to  imprisonment  and  a  shame- 
ful death. 

The  spii'it  which  persecuted  Galileo,  is  not  extinct 
in  the  present  day ;  it  has  descended  with  the  mantle  of 
the  priesthood,  and  its  influence  is  felt  in  the  opposition 
of  the  clergy  to  all  attempts  to  enlarge  the  limits  of 
human  knowledge. 

*  See  speech  of  John  Hare  Powel.  in  the  Senate  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Also,  *•  Dangers  from  Presbyterianism,"'  p.  14.  Also  New 
York  Observer,  Saturday,  November,  1S44. 


SABBATH    DAY.  201 

This  alone  is  sufficient  evidence  that  the  religion 
of  the  clergy  is  not  true  religion ;  the  latter  is,  in 
its  nature,  expansive  and  comprehensive.  Ema- 
nating from  perfect  wisdom,  it  harmonizes  "with  all 
that  is  true — every  discovery  in  science  affords  ad- 
ditional proof  of  its  doctrines.  Religion  has,  in 
truth,  all  to  hope,  and  the  clergy  have  all  to  fear, 
from  the  expansion  of  knowledge.  The  pretensions 
of  the  one  are  founded  in  error  and  prejudice,  while 
the  other  is  based  upon  immutable  and  everlasting 
truth. 

There  is  doubtless  much  learning  among  the  clergy, 
but  generally  it  is  unfruitfol  and  barren  of  any  good 
result ;  it  is  oftener  employed  to  gild  ancient  error, 
than  to  assist  the  candid  enquirer. 

Erasmus  said,  in  his  day  '-it  was  a  matter  of  wit 
to  be  a  Christian;  that  faith  was  rather  in  their 
papers  than  in  their  v  souls ;  that  there  were  almost 
as  many  creeds  as  professors."  What  was  true  then 
is  true  now.  The  strength  of  a  man's  understanding, 
the  power  of  his  voice  and  his  eloquence,  are  made 
the  proofs  of  his  Christianity. 

Persons  who  make  books  their  study,  and  hope  to 
obtain  religion  from  them,  are  liable  above  all  others, 
to  be  led  astray.  We  may  learn  from  them  the 
dogmas  of  different  sects,  and  all  the  compKcated 
affairs  of  church  history ;  they  are  valuable,  as  con- 
taining the  opinions  of  other  men,  and  the  records 

17 


202  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

of  former  generations ;  but  out  of  their  proper  place 
they  may  come  to  be  curses  rather  than  blessings ; 
and  this  without  regard  to  the  excellence  of  the  books 
themselves.  The  latent  springs  of  human  action 
each  man  has  within  him,  whether  they  be  good  or 
bad.  The  fragrance  of  the  rose  is  of  no  value  to 
such  as  have  not  the  power  of  smell ;  man  must  first 
have  truth  within  him,  to  know  what  truth  is  ;  people 
who  pretend  to  derive  wisdom  from  books,  must  ne- 
cessarily be  behind  the  age ;  and  without  better  de- 
pendence than  books  for  religion,  we  can  neither  un- 
derstand nor  appreciate  it.  An  implicit  reliance  on 
written  religion  debased  the  Puritans,  and  the  same 
evil  influence  is  felt  in  the  present  day. 

"The  heart 
May  give  an  useful  lesson  to  the  head, 
And  learning  wiser  grow  without  his  books. 
Knowledge  and  wisdom,  far  from  being  one, 
Have  ofttimes  no  connection.     Knowledge  dwells 
In  heads  replete  with  thoughts  of  other  men, 
Wisdom  in  minds  attentive  to  their  own. 

Knowledge  is  proud  that  he  has  learned  so  much  ; 
Wisdom  is  humble  that  he  knows  no  more." 

Cowper's  Task. 

Connected  with  the  subject  of  the  clergy,  is  the 
continued  recommendation  of  the  Sabbatarians  to 
attend  the  churches.  The  different  reports  which  I 
have  read,  bear  conclusive  internal  evidence  that  they  are 


SABBATH    DAY.  203 

written  by  clergymen.  They  arrogate  to  the  clergy 
powers  which  they  never  had,  and  assume  for  the 
ministry  an  influence  which  it  does  not  possess.  This 
is  the  natural  effect  of  making  a  trade  of  preaching. 

The  national  address  speaks  of  the  "  privileges  of 
an  attendance  on  the  instructions  of  an  intelligent 
Christian  ministry."  I  have  no  wish  to  destroy  the 
churches ;  they  harmonize  in  a  degree  with  the  state 
of  society ;  but  such  a  ministry,  I  conceive,  is  not  to 
be  found  among  the  Sabbatarians.  Calvinism,  Episco- 
pacy, Romanism,  Puseyism,  Unity  and  Trinity,  sprink- 
ling and  baptizing,  breaking  the  Sabbath,  dogmas 
and  rituals,  often  form  the  prominent  subjects  of  their 
discourses.  If  a  person  of  sound  intelligence  was  to 
hear  some  of  these  sermons,  he  might  ask  whether 
the  principle  of  Christianity  made  any  part  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  preacher.  Churches  are  only  objec- 
tionable on  account  of  the  doctrines  that  are  promul- 
gated in  them.  Making  the  distinction  between  days, 
leads  to  the  greater  error  arising  from  the  distinction 
between  what  they  call  secular  and  religious  things. 
They  have  one  God  for  Sunday,  and  another  for  the 
other  six  days.  If  it  were  not  that  a  man  returns 
day  by  day  to  his  own  bosom  for  the  knowledge  of 
right  and  wrong,  sermons  of  this  character  would  de- 
stroy by  degrees  every  vestige  of  religion  there  is  in 
the  world.     The  very  nature  of  their  doctrines  is  often 


204  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

at  variance  with  the  great  principles  of  human  na- 
tui'e. 

Neal,  himself  a  clergyman,  in  his  History  of  the 
Puritans,  gives  the  following  account  of  their  ministry 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Sabbath  excitement.  "  The 
Puritan  (or  Parliament)  clergy,  were  zealous  Calvin- 
ists,  and  having  been  prohibited  for  some  years  from 
preaching  against  the  Arminians,  they  now  pointed 
all  their  artillery  against  them,  insisting  upon  little 
else  in  their  sermons  but  the  doctrines  of  predestina- 
tion, justification  hy  faith  alone,  salvation  hy  free 
grace,  and  tJie  inability  of  man  to  do  that  which  is 
good.  The  duties  of  the  second  table  were  too  much 
neglected;  from  a  strong  aversion  to  Arminianism, 
these  divines  unhappily  made  way  for  Antino7nianism, 
verging  from  one  extreme  to  another,  till  at  length 
some  of  the  weaker  sort  were  lost  in  the  wild  mazes 
of  enthusiastic  dreams  and  visions ;  and  others,  from 
false  principles,  pretended  to  justify  the  hidden  works 
of  dishonesty." 

It  may  be  supposed  that  the  Sabbatarian  ministry 
of  the  present  day  is  better  than  this.  A  talented 
and  distinguished  Protestant  clergymen  of  Philadel- 
phia, gives  the  following  account  of  it  in  the  present 
year  :  "  Congregations,  instead  of  being  taught  from 
the  pulpit  to  adorn  their  profession  by  all  the  lovely 
graces  of  the  gospel,  by  kind  and  affectionate  bearing 
in  the  world,  by  earnest  and  ever  active  endeavors  to 


SABBATH    DAY.  205 

secure  for  themselves  and  others  the  blessings  of 
peace, 'were  annoyed  with  inflammatory  harangues  upon 
the  'great  schism,'  and  upon  the  'abominations  of  the 
Roman  church.'  The  Pope,  and  the  Pope,  and  the 
Pope,  was  the  beginning  and  end  of  sermons  in  cer- 
tain churches ;  and  women  and  children  were 
frightened  with  the  details  of  him  at  Rome."* 

This  ministry,  which  is  so  much  recommended, 
breathes  habitually  intolerance  and  sectarianism ;  it 
prays  twice  and  thrice  a  day  at  Sabbath  conventions; 
but  it  has  been  proved  to  have  created  riots  and  dis- 
cord, and  is  in  truth  subversive  of  the  morals  of 
society. 

In  the  last  two  hundred  years,  there  has  been,  it  is 
said,  a  constant  and  accelerated  decrease  of  the  clergy 
in  Europe.  In  Denmark,  in  twenty  years,  they  have 
decreased  more  than  one  half;  in  Russia,  in  thirty-three 
years,  more  than  one-third  ;  in  England,  in  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  years,  more  than  two-thirds,  and 
it  is  stated  that  in  six  Catholic  States  there  has  been 
a  decrease  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  of 
priests,  monks,  and  nuns.  There  is  cause  for  all  this ; 
the  people  believe  that  it  is  they  who  have  been  the 
principal  promoters  of  all  the  absurdities  that  have 
been  promulgated  under  the  name  of  Christianity. 

There  is  even  reason  to  believe,  that  the  clergymen 
as  a  class  preach  doctrines  which  they  do  not  believe 

•"  "  Danj^ors  from  Presbvforianism,"  p.  21. 


206  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

themselves,  but  wliich  they  have  derived  from  thefor- 
mulas  of  the  churches  with  which  they  are  connected. 
Luther  candidly  says  :  "  Often  do  I  think  within  my- 
self that  I  scarcely  know  where  I  am  and  whether  I 
teach  the  truth  or  not."  (Luther,  Col.  Isleb  de 
Christo.) 

John  Matthei,  the  author  of  many  writings  on  the 
life  of  Luther,  has  a  curious  anecdote  touching  the 
convictions  of  Luther.  It  is  this :  "A  preacher  called 
John  Musa  related  to  me  that  he  one  day  complained 
to  Luther  that  he  could  not  prevail  on  himself  to  be- 
lieve what  he  taught  to  others.  ^Blessed  be  God,' 
(said  Luther,)  '  that  the  same  thing  happens  to  others 
as  to  myself ;  I  believed  till  now  that  that  was  a  thing 
that  happened  only  to  me.' "  (John  Matthei,  Cone.  12. 
Quoted  by  Rev.  J.  Balmes  in  his  works  on  Protes- 
tantism.) 

Foxton,  the  Episcopal  clergyman  to  whom  we 
have  already  referred,  thus  writes : 

"  Of  the  ministering  clergy  I  require  alone,  that 
they  suffer,  as  far  as  possible,  that  "judgment  should 
go  by  default,"  where  they  have  no  rational  plea  for 
the  defence  of  an  insignificant  rite  or  obsolete  form. 
If  the  Church  will  not  speak  the  truth,  let  her  at  least 
be  silent.  If  she  will  not  inform,  if  she  fears  to  en- 
lighten the  consciences  of  her  hearers,  let  her  at  least 
cease  to  mystify  and  deceive  them.  The  concession  I 
require  is  far  less  than  her  bigoted  supporters  are  will- 


SABBATH    DAY,  207 

ing  to  believe,  for  her  authority  is  hourly  decreasing, 
and  every  attempt  to  restore  it  but  hastens  its  de- 
cline. *  *  *  *  To  the  best  and  purest  of  her  minis- 
ters, her  cumbrous  and  antiquated  machinery  is 
daily  becoming  more  and  more  an  encumbrance  and 
a  snare,  and  the  brightest  ornaments  of  her  communion 
are  those  who  virtually  renounce  their  allegiance  to 
her  laws.  *  *  *  *  The  clergy  are  simply  called  upon 
openly  to  profess  what  so  many  of  them  secretly  be- 
lieve. Let  no  honest  preacher  any  longer  continue  to 
teach  what  he  believes  to  be  unreal  and  untrue,  even 
though  it  be  consecrated  by  the  formularies  of  the 
Church.  *  *  *  *  Every  sect  of  Christians,  almost 
every  school  of  philosophers,  acknowledge  in  some 
sense  the  doctrine  of  spiritual  influences,  of  our  alle- 
giance to  a  power  beyond  the  visible  world,  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul."* 

If  it  is  true  that  the  divine  laws  lie  at  the  bottom 
of  all  things,  even  those  of  a  mechanical  nature  ;  if 
every  department  of  natural  and  moral  philosophy 
points  to  an  ever  present  superintending  Providence, 
may  there  not  be  an  expanded  field  for  pulpit  eloquence, 
a  thousand  times  more  rational  than  the  dogmas  which 
pass  under  the  name  of  Christianity. 

If  there  is  truth  in  the  foregoing  historical  sketches, 
superstition,  with  its  terrible  persecutions,  is  the 
natural  result   of    erroneous    elementary   principles 

*  Popular  Christianity,  page  122  and  123. 


208  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

which  men  receive  from  education.  How  important 
then  is  it  to  close  the  avenues  by  which  these  errors 
are  instilled  into  the  youthful  mind  ;  among  these, 
Theological  or  Divinity  schools  hold  a  prominent 
place,  and  if  our  reasoning  is  true,  they  are  an  evil 
to  the  students  themselves,  who  might  otherwise  be 
earning  a  respectable  living;  an  evil  to  the  clergy 
who  thus  imbibe  a  dependence  on  the  musty  records 
of  other  generations ;  above  all  they  are  an  evil  to  the 
whole  mass  of  society,  in  making  men  artificial  and 
incidently  increasing  moral  ofiences,  and  as  such  there 
can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  public  would  be 
benefited  if  all  such  institutions  were  closed  forever. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE     EMPLOYMENT      OF      CHAPLAINS — DAYS      OF     PUBLIC 
THANKSGIVING — SABBATH    CONVENTIONS. 

Chaplains  were  originally  appointed  by  the  ancient 
kings  of  France,  as  conservators  of  the  relics  of  the 
saints.  From  the  covering  of  these  shrines  came  the 
name  of  chaplain.  Their  history  is  a  curious  one : 
the  king  and  nobility  having  according  to  their  rank 
a  number  of  chaplains  appointed  for  them  by  law, 
whose  office  was  to  pray  for  them,  to  officiate  in  their 


SABBATH    DAY.  209 

chapels,  to  saj  grace,  and  to  have  the  care  of  their 
souls. 

It  may  be  received  as  an  axiom  in  government, 
that  a  legislature  has  no  right  to  expend  money  for 
any  purpose  for  which  it  has  no  right  to  lay  a  tax  ? 
and  if  it  is  admitted  the  Congress  cannot  tax  the  people 
W  ecclesiastical  purposes,  it  will  follow  that  it  has  no 
right  to  expend  money  to  pay  chaplains.  The  whole 
basis  of  the  constitution  is  opposed  to  the  principle. 
In  Pennsylvania  and  some  other  States,  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  chaplain  would  be  a  violation  of  the  spirit 
of  our  laws.  An  usurpation  of  this  kind  was  carried 
into  effect  in  New  York  some  years  since,  and  created 
great  dissatisfaction.  There  was  no  apology  for  it, 
either  in  the  laws  or  customs  of  the  State.  To  make 
it  the  more  acceptable,  the  law  stated,  that  the  clergy 
of  Albany,  "  without  discrimination  or  preference," 
should  be  appointed  to  the  office  of  chaplain.  It 
altered  in  no  respect  the  principle,  but  it  led  to  this 
dilemma,  that  a  colored  orthodox  clergyman  claimed 
his  equal  right  to  pray  and  to  be  paid.  White  clergy- 
men were  willing  to  pray  for  the  blacks,  but  for  blacks 
to  pray  for  the  whites  was  an  unheard  of  thing,  which 
could,  under  no  circumstances,  be  submitted  to.  It 
became  a  subject  of  negotiation,  which  resulted  in  a 
compromise,  by  which  the  black  pastor  was  paid  from 
the  public  purse,  not  for  saying  prayers  for  the  legis- 
lature, as  other  chaplains  did,  but  for  not  saying 
them. 


210  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

These  public  prayers,  so  expressly  forbidden  by 
the  New  Testamentj  seem  to  me  equally  objectionable 
in  principle  and  in  detail.  I  know  of  no  point  of 
view  in  w^hich  they  can  be  defended,  but  as  a  source 
of  emolument  to  the  clergy. 

The  employment  of  chaplains  by  our  national  and  State 
legislatures  may  be  considered  to  be  at  variance  with 
the  spirit  of  our  institutions.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  says,  "  Congress  shall  make  no  law  re- 
specting an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof."  Here  is  another  broad 
ground  taken  in  favor  of  conscientious  liberty ;  but 
this,  so  just  and  equitable  to  all,  has  given  great  offence 
to  the  Presbyterians,  who  are  now  deemed  the  princi- 
pal Sabbatarians.  In  a  general  synod,  held  at  Pitts- 
burg, in  the  year  1834,  they  pretended  to  establish, 
not  only  the  immorality  of  the  Constitution,  as  they 
termed  it,  but  that  "it  contained  the  infidel  and  anti- 
Christian  principle,  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law^ 
respecting  the  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof."  Every  movement  they 
make  upon  this  subject  evinces  that  the  intolerance 
which  marked  the  rise  of  the  society  is  still  rife  in 
the  present  day. 

John  Adams,  the  elder,  the  great  expounder  of 
constitutional  law  in  this  country,  when  President  of 
the  United  States,  wrote  to  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  that 
"  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  in  no  sense 


SABBATH   DAY.  211 

founded  upon  the  Christian  religion."  Leaving  re- 
ligion, of  course,  where  it  always  ought  to  be  left,  to 
individual  minds,  and  knowing  no  distinction  among 
those  who  led  a  peaceable  and  quiet  life. 

The  late  envoy  extraordinary  to  the  court  of  China 
writes  as  follows  :  "  Dr.  Bridgeman  is  chaplain  to  the 
legation  in  title  and  fact.  I  have  deemed  it  essential 
to  have  religious  services  performed  at  the  residence 
of  the  legation  every  Lord's  day,  and  shall  adhere  to 
the  practice  as  long  as  my  mission  lasts."  I  presume 
this  is  the  first  time  that  such  an  afiair  was  ever  got 
up  officially  by  any  of  the  representatives  of  the 
United  States  in  a  foreign  country. 

The  appropriation  of  money  by  Congress  for  such 
a  purpose,  is  an  innovation  upon  former  practices, 
and  may  be  considered  an  infringement  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  If  John  Adams' 
opinion  is  correct,  it  might  be  well,  before  agents  and 
officers  are  selected  to  fill  important  stations  in  govern- 
ment, that  they  should  learn  that  the  Constitution  is  a 
civil  contract,  having  no  relation  to  religious  rites. 
The  Presbyterian  synods  may  lament  as  they  please 
over  such  a  state  of  things,  but  "  it  is  error  alone  that 
needs  the  support  of  government :  truth  can  stand  by 
itself."* 

Every  law  of  a  religious  or  sectarian  character  is 
so  far  a  union  of  church  and  state;    and  however 

^  JeflFerson*B  No  tes  on  Virginia. 


212  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

plausible  may  be  the  pretext,  religion  is  an  affair  in 
which  the  legislature  has  no  right  to  meddle,  and  such 
a  course  is  always  injurious,  and  a  violation  of  the 
constitution. 

Days  of  thanksgiving  and  of  fasts,  appointed  by 
law,  are  liable  to  the  same  objection,  and  are  so  far 
perverted  from  their  professed  office  as  to  be  made 
days  of  licentiousness  ;  they  are  suited  to  the  ancient 
usages  of  New  England,  but  are  irreconcilable  with 
the  more  expanded  laws  or  practices  of  the  Middle 
and  Southern  States. 

Can  it  be  believed,  by  any  intelligent  man,  that 
people  can  give  thanks  because  a  day  has  been  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose,  and  the  hour  has  come  ? 
People  are  thankful  when  they  have  pure  and  thank- 
ful hearts — it  is  a  feeling  that  flows  spontaneously 
from  the  exuberance  of  their  own  emotions.  The 
law  may  make  men  hypocrites,  but  it  can  never  make 
them  religious. 

I  have  before  stated,  that,  in  the  austerities  of  the 
Puritans  relative  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  another 
day  of  recreation  was  appointed  by  act  of  Parliament. 
Their  zeal  against  Christmas,  and  other  holidays,  re- 
sulted in  festival  days  of  their  own  ;  not  only  days  for 
public  thanksgiving,  but  fast  days,  were  agreed  upon  by 
the  Presbyterian  assembly  of  divines,  held  at  West- 
minster in  1645 ;  and  directions  were  also  given  how 
they  should  be  held,  how  long  they  should  continue, 


SABBATH    DAY.  213 

and  for  the  particular  preparation  of  mind  necessary 
thereto.  This  is  believed  to  be  the  origin  of  the 
thanksgiving  days  of  the  Eastern  States.  Attempts 
to  fill  churches  by  civil  enactments,  (for  it  amounts  to 
that,)  are  worse  than  useless :  persons  who  advocate 
such  measures,  forget  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a 
religion  of  force ;  in  fact,  just  so  far  as  it  is  based 
upon  force,  its  effect  is,  to  add  hypocrisy  to  a  want  of 
faith;  my  candid  conviction  is,  that  churches  would 
be  as  well  attended,  and  attended  to  better  purpose, 
if  every  law  on  the  subject  was  repealed,  and  the 
pretensions  of  particular  days  to  exclusive  sanctity 
were  disclaimed  forever. 

The  National  Sabbath  Address  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States  uses  this  language :  "  However  pure 
and  healthful  the  fountain,  if  poison  be  cast  into  it, 
it  sends  forth  only  streams  of  death ;  and  so  will 
desecrated  and  polluted  Sabbaths  work  our  more 
speedy  and  dreadful  ruin." 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  Harrisburg  Convention 
we  find  the  following  sentence  :  *'  Property  earned  or 
increased  by  Sabbath  desecration,  reaches  a  second 
generation,  accompanied  by  the  impious  parental 
lesson,  that  the  claims  of  duty  and  human  happiness 
may  yield  to  the  clamors  of  interest  and  convenience. 
Hence  it  is  no  wonder  that  such  inheritances  are  soon 
squandered,  so  that  the  profligate  and  beggared  son 
trudges  in  rags,  where  a  Sabbath-breaking  father  rode 

18 


214  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

in  his  chariot."  I  ask  myself  how  it  is  possible  that 
deliberate  assemblies  sanction  such  language.  Is  it 
true,  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  inviolate  to  those 
who  desecrate  the  Sabbath,  as  well  as  to  those  who  do 
not  ?  If  it  is  so,  the  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from 
these  paragraphs  are  false,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to 
saj,  that  the  enlightened  men  of  those  congregations 
knew  that  they  were  so. 

Where  are  the  nobility  of  England,  the  acknow- 
ledged desecrators  of  the  Sabbath  day,  with  their 
property  preserved  to  their  families  from  one  genera- 
tion to  another  for  a  thousand  years  ? 

It  may  be  said  that  their  estates  have  been  pro- 
tected by  particular  laws,  but  what  are  human  laws  to 
that  power  that  burns  a  barn  or  sinks  a  steamboat,  as 
a  judgment  upon  Sabbath-breakers  ?  Where  is  the 
Quaker  property?  instead  of  going  down  with  this 
curse  attached  to  it,  it  is  preserved  in  a  remarkable 
degree,  from  one  generation  to  another. 

But  admitting  that  the  parents  had  done  wrong  in 
AYOrking  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  which  I  totally 
deny,  who  has  delegated  authority  to  these  conven- 
tions to  pass  judgment  upon  their  children,  and  to 
make  them  answerable  for  sins  which  they  never  com- 
mitted ? 

Such  sentiments,  no  matter  how  respectable  the 
source  whence  they  come,  are  degrading  to  human 
nature,    and    unworthy   of    enlightened    assemblies. 


SABBATH    DAY.  Zlb 

Why  should  not  perfect  liberty  of  conscience  be  ex- 
tended to  all  ?  Those  who  travel  on  that  day  have 
the  example  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  doctrines  of  the 
New  Testament  in  their  favor ;  there  is  no  objection 
to  persons  staying  at  home  on  that  day,  if  they  pre- 
fer not  to  travel. 

Turnpike  roads  are  established  by  the  same  power 
and  for  the  same  pui'pose  as  railroads ;  but  society 
would  never  suffer  them  to  be  subjected  to  sectarian 
influence. 

The  national  address  says,  with  some  exultation, 
^'  It  is  not  he  who  fears  God,  and  keeps  his  Sabbath, 
that  robs  his  neighbor  or  murders  him."  .... 
Every  body  knows  that.  "  Nor Js  his  place  among 
the  debased  of  his  species  in  any  respect  or  any- 
where  He  will  understand  and  value 

his  political  rights,  and  respect  the  rights  of  others. 

The  world  has  never  witnessed  the 

spectacle  of  an  universal  obedience  to  the  Sabbath 
in  any  country,  and  its  full  power  to  bless  a  nation  is 
yet  unrevealed." 

Were  those  who  issued  this  address  so  blind,  or 
so  ignorant,  or  so  prejudiced,  as  not  to  know  that 
every  statement  herein  is  untrue?  The  Sabbata- 
rians at  one  time  wielded  the  power  of  the  British 
Parliament ;  they  enforced  the  observance  of  the 
day  by  every  law  that  ingenuity  could  devise  ;  they 
came  to  this  country  with  both  the  civil  and  eccle- 


216  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

siastical  power  in  their  hands.  Every  individual 
in  the  colony  was  of  the  class  of  Sabbatarians.  Is 
there  no  truth  in  the  histories  that  have  been  al- 
luded to  ?  Were  the  Quakers  and  the  witches  not 
hung  ?  Who  was  it  exercised  such  dreadful  cruel- 
ties upon  the  defenceless  aborigines  of  the  country  ? 
Who  was  it  made  such  despotic  laws  against  the 
Roman  Catholics,  that  it  was  death  for  a  Catholic 
priest  to  remain  in  their  territories  ?  If  history  is 
true,  the  answer  to  all  these  questions  wall  be,  that 
it  was  the  Sabbatarians.  Who  had  such  bitter  quar- 
rels and  denunciations  among  themselves,  that  when 
they  had  only  been  settled  a  few  years  in  the  coun- 
try. Vane,  one  of  the  most  pious  among  these  Puri- 
tans, left  the  country  in  disgust  ?  In  the  contest, 
Cotton,  and  Winthrop,  and  Hutchinson,  were  promi- 
nent actors.  The  answer  still  is,  it  was  the  Sabba- 
tarians. And  it  is  the  Sabbatarians  that  at  the 
present  day  are  issuing  denunciations  against  some 
of  the  most  respectable  men  in  the  country. 

In  one  of  the  leading  addresses  of  the  convention, 
it  is  said,  "JSTo  one  can  rebel  against  the  Sabbath  as 
a  religious  institution,  without  the  most  heaven-daring 
sin;"  and  another  work,  speaking  of  the  Sabbath- 
breakers,  says,  "  Judgment  in  due  time  lingereth  not, 
and  damnation  slumbereth  not."*  Such  sentiments 
can  only  be  sustained  by  falsehood.  In  every  aspect 
*  Bo3ton  Permanent  Documents. 


SABBATH    DAY.  21T 

they  are  equally  untrue.  I  have  observed  the  man- 
agement of  extensive  operations,  where  large  numbers 
of  people  were  employed  ;  I  have  worked  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week  whenever  it  has  suited  me  to  do  so ; 
I  have  employed  others  to  do  the  same ;  I  have 
travelled  and  visited  on  that  day ;  I  have  done  every- 
thing that  I  would  do  on  any  other  day  of  the  week. 
I  have  seen,  times  without  number,  children  enjoying 
the  innocent  amusements  of  their  kites  and  their 
marbles,  and  I  have  never  seen  the  slightest  loss  or 
harm  resulting  from  it,  in  any  way  whatever.  So 
far  as  I  have  acted  myself,  I  have  done  it  with  great 
peace  and  tranquillity  of  mind ;  nay,  to  use  a  Scrip- 
ture expression,  if  I  had  observed  one  day  as  more 
holy  than  the  rest,  the  stones  in  the  street  would  have 
cried  out  against  me. 

The  Sabbath  doctrines  produced,  as  we  have  seen, 
discord  and  animosity  in  Old  and  New  England,  sub- 
stituting cant  and  hypocrisy  for  the  vitality  of  truth  ; 
and  so  far  as  the  people  of  these  United  States  may 
be  induced  to  adopt  them,  it  may  be  considered  to  be 
both  an  individual  and  a  national  calamity. 

"We  are  told,  by  an  unanimous  vote  of  the  Harris- 
burg  Sabbath  Convention,  that  if  we  withhold  our 
contributions  to  the  funds  necessary  to  maintain  the 
families  of  the  missionaries,  ''  we  and  our  children 
must  abide  the  fearful  consequences  here  and  here- 
after." 

18* 


218  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

People  may  honestly  take  diiSerent  views  of  the 
same  subject ;  but  when  writers  descend  to  false 
reasoning  and  puerile  statements,  in  order,  as  it 
would  seem,  to  influence  men  who  have  not  time  to 
examine  and  reflect  for  themselves,  they  pursue  a 
coui'se  in  which  honorable  men  would  hardly  be  will- 
ing to  follow  them.  This  applies  peculiarly  to  the 
proceedings  of  Sabbath  conventions.  The  minds  of 
the  members  seem  to  be  deeply  tinctured  with  super- 
stition and  prejudice,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  state- 
ment they  publish,  which,  in  all  its  bearings,  is  strictly 
true. 

One  of  the  conventions  recommends  that  the  facts 
relative  to  "the  voice  of  God  in  his  providence,"  for 
violating  the  Sabbath,  be  collected  and  circulated. 
The  Boston  work  enumerates  a  great  number  of  cases 
of  the  kind. 

It  is  at  variance  with  facts,  and  the  common  sense 
observations  of  the  age,  that  the  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  peculiarly  heaped  upon  Sabbath-breakers. 
If  there  is  any  truth  in  these  pages.  Sabbath-breakers, 
as  they  are  called  by  sectarians,  are  not  worse  than 
any  other  class  of  society.  Even  if  they  were  bad 
men,  the  rain  descends  and  the  sun  shines  upon  them, 
and  the  providence  of  God  watches  continually  over 
them  for  good.  The  ideas  promulgated  upon  this 
subject  are  calculated  to  operate  upon  the  fears  of 
the  people,  and  appear  to  be  founded  wholly  in  de- 
hision  and  superstition. 


SABBATH    DAY,  219 

One  man  lost  his  barn  by  lightning,  as  a  judgment 
for  violating  the  Sabbath ;  another  from  a  fire  com- 
municated from  a  gun ;  others  failed ;  some  were 
not  equally  successful  in  making  salt  who  worked  on 
Sunday ;  some  did  not  succeed  in  fishing,  and  the 
like.  Such  reasoning  may  suit  the  superstitious,  but  it 
deserves  very  little   attention   from  rational   minds. 

Perhaps  some  of  the  men  who  have  promulgated 
these  sentiments,  have  been  themselves  sufi'erers — 
have  had  their  barns  burnt,  and  been  subjected  to 
distress  and  difficulty  of  various  kinds.  Do  these 
things  never  happen  to  those  who  keep  the  Sabbath? 
There  are  cars  that  have,  for  a  number  of  years, 
started  from  Philadelphia  as  regularly  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week  as  on  any  other  day.  Have  they 
been  more  subject  to  accidents  on  that  day  ?  Cer- 
tainly not !  In  England,  the  rail  road  companies  are 
compelled  to  furnish  cars  for  Sunday  use,  in  order  to 
accommodate  the  working  people  who  are  at  leisure 
on  that  day.  "VYhen  an  attempt  was  made  to  stop 
some  of  the  trains,  it  was  brought  before  Parliament 
as  a  subject  of  complaint. 

The  National  Convention,  in  its  address  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States,  degrades  itself  by  saying, 
that  we  are  warned  by  the  "awful -providences  of 
God,"  against  the  profanation  of  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath. I  hesitate  not  to  say  that  the  statement  is  not 
true. 


220  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

Respecting  the  inmates  of  our  prisons. 

It  is  said  tliat  a  large  proportion  of  such  persons 
did  not  value  the  Sabbath,  and  were  in  the  habit  of 
profaning  it,  and  a  false  argument  is  founded  there- 
on, that  this  is  the  principal  cause  of  their  errors. 
Men  of  depraved  minds  will  naturally  profane  the 
Sabbath,  but  they  equally  profane  every  other  day 
in  the  week.  Pious  and  good  men,  who  are  op- 
posed to  the  movements  of  the  Sabbatarians,  and 
object  to  Sabbath  conventions,  and  whom  they  term 
"desecrators  of  the  Sabbath,"  are  as  much  opposed, 
nay,  more  than  sectarians  are  likely  to  be,  to  pro- 
faneness  of  any  kind  whatever. 

As  I  have  stated,  the  efforts  of  these  conventions 
are  directed  against  those  who  are  peculiarly  Sab- 
bath-breakers— against  men  who  are  pursuing  their 
lawful  callings  during  six  days,  and  are  not,  to  use 
their  own  expression,  "  giving  the  seventh  peculiarly 
unto  God." 

"Six  days  of  the  week  alone  are  the  property  of 
mankind  for  the  performance  of  secular  business — 
the  seventh  belongs  to  God,  and  whosoever  does 
not  devote  one  day  in  seven  to  the  worship  of  our 
Heavenly  Father,  is  a  robber  of  God."  This  sen- 
timent is  published  as  the  third  resolution  of  the 
National  Sabbath  Convention  ;  it  contains  the  shock- 
ing idea,  that  six  days  belong  to  man,  and  but  one 
to  God. 


SABBATH    DAY.  221 

Can  they  show  any  instance  of  people  who  pur- 
sue the  paths  of  rectitude,  do  righteously  and  justly 
on  six  days,  and  yet  are  licentious  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week?  If  they  can,  their  argument  on  this 
subject  may  have  some  force.  Have  the  inmates  of 
our  prisons  been  of  this  character  ?  Surely  not !  I 
presume  no  such  instance  can  be  found,  and  yet 
they  speak  as  if  it  were  so. 

Admitting  it  to  be  true,  that  the  inmates  of  our 
prisons  have  been  Sabbath-breakers,  a  charge  which 
perhaps  would  apply  to  every  person  in  the  United 
States  ;  what  has  first  made  them  the  violators  of 
law  but  Sabbath  enactments,  which  have  no  founda- 
tion in  truth,  and  which  are  at  variance  with  the  very 
spirit  of  the  Christian  religion  ?  Thus  man  himself 
makes  sinners  of  his  fellow  men. 

But  let  us  look  at  the  other  side  of  the  question. 
How  many  Sabbath-keepers  are  violating  the  moral 
law  ?  How  many  are  robbing  the  poor  of  their 
bread  ?  Are  these  debased  by  keeping  the  Sabbath  ? 
There  is  as  much  argument  on  one  side  of  the  ques- 
tion as  on  the  other. 

The  sentiment  of  putting  no  unnecessary  burdens 
upon  society,  or  of  the  injurious  effects  of  counting 
that  sin  which  is  not  sin,  has  been  repeated  by  many 
wise  men  since  the  days  of  the  apostle. 

Milton  says,  "  It  is  the  height  of  injustice,  as  well 
as  an  example  of  most  dangerous  tendency  in   re- 


222  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

ligion,  to  account  as  sin  what  is  not  such  in  real- 
ity."* 

"  The  laws  of  religion,"  says  Montesquieu,  ''  should 
never  inspire  an  aversion  to  any  thing  but  vice,  and 
above  all  they  should  never  estrange  man  from  a  love 
and  tenderness  for  his  own  species. "f 

I  also  transcribe  one  of  the  maxims  of  Burke, — 
"  Lawful  enjoyment  is  the  surest  method  to  prevent 
unlawful  gratification. "J 

If  these  maxims  are  true,  we  may  draw  the  conclu- 
sion that  ascetic  laws  for  the  observance  of  Sunday  are 
productive  of  moral  evil.  Laws  may  be  enforced,  but 
all  other  things  being  equal,  if  there  is  any  one  State 
in  this  Union  where  the  Sabbath  is  more  attended  to 
than  in  the  others,  and  I  do  not  know  that  there  is 
such  a  State,  the  morals  of  the  inhabitants  will,  I  be- 
lieve, be  found  to  be  injured  thereby. 

I  here  close  my  remarks  upon  Sabbath  conven- 
tions. What  I  have  said  has  been  in  no  unkind  spirit ; 
some  among  the  members  are  my  personal  friends, 
and  no  one  can  deny  that  the  assemblies  in  question 
have  contained  much  individual  virtue,  respectability, 
and  intelligence.  Against  their  proceedings,  how- 
ever, I  have  felt  called  upon  to  protest,  as  a  Christian 
and  as  a  citizen.    The  fictions  which  they  have  brought 

*  Treatise  on  Christian  Doctrine,  p   231. 

f  Spirit  of  Laws,  B.  xxiv,,  Ch.  22. 

i  Burke's  Works,  vol.  vi.  p.  312.     Ed.  1823. 


SABBATH   DAY.  223 

forward  are  so  monstrous,  as  to  disgust  any  candid 
inquirer  after  truth  ;  the  end  which  they  propose  to 
gain,  is  subversive  alike  of  religion  and  good  govern- 
ment; they  would  destroy  liberty  of  conscience,  to 
gain  which  the  world  has  seen  so  much  suffering ; 
they  would  retard  the  progress  of  science  and  the 
arts,  which  can  never  flourish  when  the  mind  is  en- 
slaved ;  they  would  establish  a  religion  of  rites  and 
ceremonies,  in  place  of  the  pure  and  simple  doctrines 
of  the  Christian  faith ;  they  w^ould  recall,  in  effect, 
the  formal  spirit  of  Paganism,  to  preside  at  the  altars 
of  a  spiritual  church ;  they  would  debase  religion  to 
glorify  themselves  ;  to  gain  such  ends,  they  now  in- 
voke the  aid  of  public  opinion,  and  the  power  of  the 
civil  government ;  should  they  succeed,  they  would  es- 
tablish a  persecution  as  oppressive  in  its  nature  as 
any  that  deforms  the  pages  of  history. 


224  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 


CHAPTER  XL 

MAN  CANNOT  WORK  UNCEASINGLY — CLOSING  COURTS, 
NO  REASON  FOR  CLOSING  RAILROADS — ALL  WHO  HOLD 
ACCORDING  TO  REASON,  CHRISTIANS — UNIVERSALITY 
OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION- — CONCLUSION. 

The  great  physiological  truth,  that  man  cannot 
work  unceasingly,  is  brought  forward  continually  to 
sustain  the  "  Christian  Sabbath  "  as  a  religious  rite. 

No  truth  is  more  certain  than  that  there  is  a  maxi- 
mum to  the  labors  of  men  and  horses  and  inanimate 
machines  which  cannot  be  exceeded  without  injury. 

A  locomotive  that  has  seventy  miles  to  travel  each 
day,  will  perform  it  with  less  wear  and  tear,  less  fric- 
tion, less  injury,  both  to  the  locomotive  and  to  the 
railroad,  by  doing  the  work  in  seven  hours  than  in 
six. 

What  is  true  of  a  locomotive  is  true  of  other  ma- 
chines :  and  it  is  true  also  of  animals.  There  is  an 
amount  of  labor  which  each  will  perform  in  a  year, 
or  in  any  other  given  time,  and  that  will  be  accom- 
plished with  less  injury  by  a  regular  division  of  it 
than  in  any  other  way.  It  may  be  true  that  a  horse 
on  a  journey  will  be  better  for  resting  one  day  in 


SABBATH    DAY, 


225 


seven ;  but  if  so,  it  is  only  because  the  Tfork  has  been 
too  hard  on  the  other  six :  so  of  man,  one  or  two,  or 
three  days  in  seven  may  be  highly  necessary  to  him, 
as  a  relief  from  excessive  toil ;  but  it  is  from  causes 
which  in  themselves  are  deviations  from  the  laws  of 
nature  ;  and  in  attempting  to  apply  a  remedy,  if  we 
do  not  first  understand  the  cause,  we  are  liable  to  do 
evil  instead  of  good. 

In  the  concern  which  Sabbatarians  profess  for 
laboring  men,  would  they  encourage  them  to  leave 
the  confinement  of  the  towns  and  cities,  and  ride  out 
into  the  country?  Would  they  wish  them  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  visiting  their  friends,  and  walking  in 
the  fields  to  enjoy  rui'al  scenery  ?  These  things  for 
their  physical  enjoyment  would  seem  to  be  most 
natural  and  proper.  There  were  two  instances  in 
which  the  Sabbatarians  had  all  power  in  their  own 
hands,  in  both  of  which  they  abused  it ;  they  made 
the  most  severe  laws  against  every  species  of  rational 
enjoyment  which  a  laboring  man  could  desire,  and 
which  would  be  most  in  accordance  with  his  physical 
nature.     The  same  feelings  exist  now. 

The  clergy  themselves  appear  to  be  the  greatest 
offenders  in  this  respect.  I  do  not  perceive  the  dif- 
ference between  making  merchandise  of  the  labor  of 
a  man's  head,  or  of  his  hands,  I  do  not  say  that 
either  is  wrong,  but  the  principle  is  the  same.  Clergy- 
men, who  work  on  the  first  day,  take  the  liberty  of 

19 


226  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

judging  whether  they  will  rest  on  any  other  day  or 
not.  Many  of  them  probably  work  every  day  in  the 
week,  but  they  deny  that  right  to  others  which  they 
take  for  themselves. 

In  this  country  almost  every  man  is  a  working  man. 
The  judge  who  sits  on  the  bench,  and  the  merchant 
who  writes  in  his  office,  may  work  as  hard,  nay,  much 
harder,  than  he  who  carries  a  mattock  and  labors  on 
the  highway. 

The  one  class  would  be  most  benefited  by  a  day  of 
rest,  the  other  by  a  day  of  activity ;  and  so  far  as  our 
physical  nature  is  concerned,  if  our  judges  and  legis- 
lators, and  all  who  lead  sedentary  lives,  could  be  in- 
duced to  ride  out  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and 
take  active  exercise,  society  would  be  benefited  there- 

These  are  obvious  truths,  that  can  be  understood 
by  all.  Yet  it  is  proposed  to  bring  the  judge  and 
the  legislator  from  one  sedentary  employment  to 
another ;  from  the  court  and  the  legislative  hall  to 
the  church ;  if  that,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  is  a 
place  of  quietness  and  rest,  still  further  to  violate  the 
laws  of  nature. 

If  the  views  upon  this  subject,  taken  by  the  Sabba- 
tarians, are  correct,  it  is  one  of  the  strongest  reasons 
that  can  be  given  for  the  extension  of  a  perfect 
liberty  of  conscience.  The  idle  man,  if  he  could  be 
induced  to  do  so,  should  go  to  work,  the  sedentary 


SABBATH    DAY.  227 

man  should  ride  out  and  take  the  open  air  in  the  coun- 
try, and  religious  exercises  should  be  put  a  stop  to, 
because  nature  requires  that  one  day  in  seven  should 
be  held  purely  as  a  day  of  rest  and  refreshment  for 
the  preservation  of  our  physical  frames. 

No  rule  of  conduct  would  be  of  universal  applica- 
tion. It  is  a  subject  of  deep  regret  that  there  should 
be  licentiousness  on  any  day  ;  but  the  reformation 
which  is  so  desirable,  is  least  of  all  to  be  expected 
from  the  plans  of  the  modern  Sabbatarians.  Even  if 
they  promised  great  good,  there  is  one  all-sufficient 
reason  against  them,  that  they  are  not  founded  in 
truth. 

In  Scotland  first,  in  this  country,  and  in  England 
next,  where  the  Puritan  principles  have  prevailed, 
the  first  day  of  the  week  has  been  invariably  per- 
verted from  a  day  of  joy  and  rejoicing  to  one  of 
gloom  and  superstition.  It  is  in  these  countries,  not- 
withstanding the  great  professions  of  concern  for  the 
physical  nature  of  man,  that  nature  has  been  most  of 
all  violated,  by  the  denial  of  liberty  of  conscience  to 
use  the  day  of  rest  as  would  most  promote  health  and 
happiness. 

Men  in  some  employments  require  to  be  relieved 
every  eight  hours ;  or  to  give  it  another  division  of 
time,  to  have  two  Sabbaths  of  rest  in  a  week.  I  have 
known  many  other  men,  when  the  labor  was  less 
severe,  whose  occupations  required  that  they  should 


228  msTiTUTiON  of  the 

attend  to  their  respectiye  duties  twelve  hours  in  the 
twenty-four,  every  day  in  the  year.  There  was  no 
decay  of  health  and  vigor,  no  exhausted  energies,  no 
prostration  of  body  or  of  spirit,  which  Sabbatarians 
pretend  to  say  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  not 
keeping  the  Sabbath  day.  Not  one  single  instance 
of  the  kind  has  ever  come  under  my  observation, 
during  a  period  of  many  years.  In  regard  to  intel- 
lectual occupations  on  that  day,  which  it  is  stated  will 
result  in  "less  clearness  of  perception,  power  of 
description,  and  soundness  of  judgment,"  I  may  men- 
tion, that  some  of  the  best  works  that  have  ever  been 
written  in  this  country,  works  which  have  received 
great  commendation  in  foreign  lands  for  their  literary 
and  scientific  character,  have  been  composed  almost 
exclusively  on  Sundays,  in  the  leisure  thence  afforded 
from  constant  employment  on  other  days  in  the  week. 
The  views  which  I  have  given  on  this  subject  are  be- 
lieved to  be  the  only  true  ones ;  and  the  sentiments 
of  the  Sabbatarians,  differing  materially  from  these 
as  they  do,  are  certainly  incorrect  both  in  principle 
and  in  practice. 

There  are  thousands  of  cases,  in  which  men  are  re- 
quired to  work  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  in  the 
proper  performance  of  their  duty ;  the  nurse  in  the 
sick  room  must  work,  the  navigators  of  ships  on  the 
ocean,  and  the  conductors  on  railroads.  Each  in 
his  proper  place  is  fulfilling  his  duty,  by  working  on 


SABBATH    DAY.  229 

that  day,  thus  contributing  to  the  welfare  of  his  fel- 
low men,  and  herein  also  worshipping  God. 

We  defeat  our  object  by  requiring  too  much ;  let  us 
get  rid  of  the  superstition,  and  the  thing  in  the  end 
will  find  its  own  level ;  it  is  the  unnatural  require- 
ments that  reacts  and  produce  evil. 

We  would  open  to  the  people  every  means  of  rational 
enjoyment,  and  then  we  may  come  before  them  with 
confidence,  and  ask  their  aid  to  suppress  every  thing 
that  is  irrational  and  wrong ;  at  present  they  are  in 
arms  against  the  observance  of  the  day,  because  of  its 
austerities;  make  no  irrational  requisition,  and  we 
make  them  our  friends. 

Next^  as  to  the  arguments  which  are  adduced  in 
favor  of  closing  railroads^  because  courts  and  the 
public  offices  are  closed  on  the  first  day  of  the  iveek. 

At  the  early  period  of  the  Christian  religion,  when 
that  faith  prevailed,  all  the  secular  power  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Romans.  Constantino,  who  first  united 
Church  and  State,  in  the  edict  already  referred 
to,  interdicted  the  opening  of  courts  on  Sunday, 
which  was  afterwards  confirmed  by  Theodosius,  Valen- 
tinian  and  Arcadius,  who  published  a  law  prohibiting 
arbitrations  on  holy  days.  In  this  prohibition,  Sun- 
days, their  birth-days,  and  festiveJ  days,  were  all 
placed  on  the  same  footing.  These  edicts  were 
still  further  enforced  by  Leo,  in  466,  who  gives  as  a 
reason,  "  that  adversaries  might  meet  together  on  that 

19* 


230  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

day  without  fear."  The  same  law  directed  that  the 
spectacle  of  wild  beasts,  the  theatre,  and  other  places 
of  diversion,  should  be  closed  ;  and  a  distinction  was 
made,  for  the  first  time,  between  birth-days  and 
Sunday.* 

Such  were  the  imperial  laws  relative  to  closing 
courts  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  There  were,  no 
doubt,  many  special  usages,  in  different  countries, 
upon  the  subject;  and  they  seem  to  have  been  regu- 
lated by  the  caprices  of  those  who  held  the  power. 
In  the  reign  of  Alfred,  bishops  were  the  judges,  and 
several  parts  of  the  New  Testament  were  incorporated 
into  the  Saxon  laws.f  The  closing  of  the  courts  has 
become  a  law  by  long  usage,  enforcing  particular 
statutes  upon  the  subject,  and  the  practice  is  univer- 
sally assented  to  and  approved.  It  has  a  basis  in  our 
physical  nature,  which  would  in  itself  be  imperative. 
I  apprehend  there  is  no  employment  so  severe  for  a 
conscientious  magistrate,  as  setting  as  a  judge  in  our 
supreme  courts,  where  there  is  no  appeal.  The 
stretch  of  thought  and  research  which  is  required  in 
cases  often  extremely  intricate  ;  the  mists  that  are 
thrown  around  by  advocates,  whose  business  it  is  to 
tell  their  own  side  of  the  story  ;  the  elaborate  opinions 
that  are  often  to  be  written  out,  make  it  one  of  the 

*  See  Corpus  Juris  Civilis,  where  these  laws  are  extant.  Article 
Ferii.     Also  Howell's  Ecclesiastical  History,  folio,  vol.  iii. 

t  See  Hume's  Hist.  Eng.,  reign  of  Alfred  ;  also,  Jefferson's 
Letter  to  Castier. 


SABBATH    DAY.  281 

most  onerous  employments  that  are  to  be  found.  In- 
stead of  curtailing  the  relaxation  of  the  judges,  two 
days  of  rest  in  each  week  had  better  be  appointed  for 
them. 

If  there  is  no  other  reason  why  the  courts  should 
be  closed,  the  usages  of  our  forefathers,  many  cen" 
turies  ago,  should  not  be  deemed  authority  for  us, 
under  circumstances  entirely  different.  The  first 
frame  of  laws  in  this  province,  made  by  William  Penn, 
permitted  all  the  civil  affairs  of  government  to  be 
transacted  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  "in  cases  of 
emergency:"  and  the  legislature  and  civil  officers  of 
this  State  are  at  liberty  to  transact  business  on  that 
day  whenever  it  is  required. 

It  ought  to  be  considered  a  settled  law  of  the  land, 
that  conscientious  men  are  at  liberty  to  work  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  if  they  choose  to  do  so.  I 
think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  is  the  law  of 
this  State,  and  that  it  would  be  so  interpreted  by  en- 
lightened and  disinterested  men. 

It  looks  like  a  subterfuge  and  evasion,  for  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  to  assume,  that  though 
the  Sunday  laws  are  not  ecclesiastical,  they  are  con- 
stitutional as  civil  enactments.  Has  the  Constitution 
given  to  the  legislature,  or  to  the  courts,  any  authority 
to  say  when  men  shall  work,  or  when  they  shall  be 
idle  ?  No  such  thing  can  be  found  therein,  even  by 
inference.     The  right  to   interfere,  if  any  there  be, 


232  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

is  by  prescriptions  resting  on  a  very  uncertain  and 
doubtful  basis  ;  and  yet  upon  this,  the  Jew  and  the 
Seventh-day  Baptist  are  fined  for  working  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week.  Such  violations  of  the  natural 
rights  of  man  are  calculated  to  lessen  the  authority 
of  all  law,  and  to  impair  the  obligations  of  society. 

The  introduction  of  religion  into  the  common  law 
was  an  usurpation  founded  upon  the  "  base  falsehoods  " 
of  the  law  judges  in  England.*  This  has  been  per- 
petuated in  this  country,  and  will  continue  to  be  the 
case,  so  long  as  people  want  confidence  in  the  power 
of  truth,  t 

There  could  hardly  be  a  greater  [stigma  cast  upon 
the  Christian  religion,  than  the  idea  that  is  is  not 
able  to  sustain  itself  Avithout  the  power  of  the 
sword. 

A  very  curious  trial  occurred  a  few  years  since  in 

*  See  Jefferson's  Letter  to  Major  Cartwright.  Jefferjon'd  Cof- 
respondence,  vol.  iv.  p.  393.  ' 

f  The  President  of  the  College  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina, 
in  a  letter  to  a  member  of  Congress,  says,  "  This  usurpation  has 
been  so  completely  put  down  by  JeflPerson,  that  it  never  can  be 
repeated  except  for  purposes  of  fraud."  And  he  asks,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  case,  ("Smith  and  SparroAV,  4  Bingh.  84,  88,")  "  did 
Judge  Story  never  read  the  Year  Book  cited  by  Mr,  Jefferson, 
■which  shows  the  barefaced,  wilful  ignorance  of  the  English 
bench  ?  The  Judge  either  has  read  Prisot's  opinion,  or  he  has 
not.  If  not,  he  is  grossly  ignorant;  if  lie  has,  he  has  asserted 
what  he  knoivn.  is  not  Jaw." 


SABBATH    DAY.  233 

Pennsylvania.  A  man  came  before  the  court  with 
his  hat  on.  The  Quakers,  as  a  class,  objected  to  the 
formal  recognition  of  respect,  where  they  felt  none ; 
and,  preferring  to  show  it  by  their  conduct  rather 
than  by  unmeaning  forms,  they  steadily  refused  to 
pull  off  their  hats  in  reverence  to  any  court  or  body 
of  men.  This  was  so  well  settled,  that  if  the  man 
had  been  a  Quaker,  there  would  have  been  no  question 
upon  the  subject ;  he  was  not  a  Quaker,  but  still  he 
chose  to  keep  his  hat  on,  and  the  court  ordered  it  to 
be  taken  off.  For  this  offence,  the  judge  was  im- 
peached before  the  Senate  of  the  State,  the  impeach- 
ment was  sustained,  and  he  lost  his  office  for  this,  and 
for  this  alone.  The  man  pleaded  that  he  had  done 
no  civil  injury  to  any  one — that  the  Constitution  gave 
him  a  right  to  take  his  hat  off  or  keep  it  on — and  the 
high  court  of  appeals  sustained  him  in  this  position. 

This  may  appear  as  a  very  small  affair,  but  the 
Senate  was  right.  Courts  have  no  right  to  usurp 
legislative  powers,  and  the  more  earnestly  this  is  ob- 
jected to  the  more  harmonious  will  be  the  opera- 
tion of  our  laws.  The  Sabbath  laws  of  Pennsylvania 
are  a  perfect  absurdity  and  a  disgrace  to  the  State ; 
the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  cannot  agree  upon 
their  interpretation,  and  the  local  courts  and  magis- 
trates give  them  a  construction  to  suit  their  own 
sectarian  notions.  It  has  lately  been  discovered  that 
though  an  act  itself  is  lawful,  the  peaceful  means  by 


234  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

which  that  act  should  be  accomplished  is  unlawful ; 
the  major  does  not,  as  in  all  other  cases,  include  the 
minor.  A  railroad  car  which  accommodates  hundreds 
of  travellers,  pursuing  their  lawful  calling,  decided  to 
he  such  hj  the  Supreme  Court,  maj  be  stopped  on  Sun- 
day, because  the  driver  of  the  car  is  pursuing  only 
his  ordinary  labor,  which  is  unlawful. 

At  almost  every  session  of  our  Legislature,  petitions 
are  presented  for  further  enactments  relative  to  the 
first  day  of  the  week ;  they  are  referred  to  committees, 
and  uniformly  rejected.  Still,  while  men's  minds  are 
prejudiced,  there  is  no  certain  security  for  liberty  of 
conscience.  The  Constitution  may  remain  as  it  is ; 
but  laws  are  but  cobwebs  to  a  sectarian  community. 

Courts,  that  are  to  explain  them,  partake  of  the 
influence,  and  the  people  sustain  them  in  it.  At  pre- 
sent, the  most  certain  reliance  for  the  preservation  of 
liberty  of  conscience  in  this  country,  is  in  the  antago- 
nist principles  of  the  different  sects.  It  might  seem 
to  be  a  sad.  thing  that  caused  religious  sects  to  quarrel 
as  they  do,  but  thence  arises  safety  to  honest  and  en- 
lightened men.  Let  them  combine  upon  the  subject 
of  Sunday  police,  or  upon  any  other  point  whatever, 
and  the  liberties  of  the  country  are  in  danger. 

Those  who  are  disposed  to  multiply  penal  enact- 
ments, seem  not  to  understand  their  nature.  Severi- 
ties against  doctrines,  have  so  much  augmented  the 
evil,  that  persecutions  have  been  called  the  seed  of 


SABBATH   DAY.  235 

the  church.  And  it  is  probable  that  penal  laws  have 
often  increased  rather  than  lessened  crime.  In  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  there  were  hanged  in  England 
seventy-two  thousand  thieves  and  rogues,  besides  other 
malefactors,  being  about  two  thousand  a  year.*  Exe- 
cutions have  been  gradually  decreasing,  until  they 
have  become  of  rare  occurrence.  Laws  have  been 
softened,  and  the  morals  of  the  people  have  improved ; 
it  is  probable  that  this  improvement  is  to  be  ascribed 
in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  to  the  public  being 
rendered  less  familiar  with  crime,  through  the  amenity 
of  the  civil  code. 

Jefferson,  in  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  makes  it  a 
question,  whether  no  law  at  all,  or  too  much  law,  is 
the  greater  evil.  He  pronounces  the  latter  to  be  the 
case  ;  he  founds  his  opinion  on  the  Indian  nations  on 
one  side,  (amongst  whom,  he  says,  governed  as  they 
are  by  the  moral  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  crimes  are 
of  very  rare  occui'rence,)  and  the  civilized  nations  of 
Europe  on  the  other,  f 

Ordinances  are  of  no  avail  unless  supported  by  pub- 
lic opinion.  The  laws  of  Pennsylvania,  so  far  as  re- 
spects the  abstaining  from  labor  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  are  effectual.  Society  universally  assents 
to  them ;  but  of  what  avail  are  other  provisions  re- 
specting Sunday.     It  is  supposed  there  is  double  the 

*  See  Hume's  History  of  England,  rol.  v.  note,  (MM.) p.  533. 
t  Jefferson's  Notes,  p.  138. 


236  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

amount  of  licentiousness  on  that  as  on  any  other  day. 
And  if  we  multiply  the  statutes  upon  this  subject,  it 
is  more  likely  to  increase  than  to  decrease  crime. 

Our  canals  and  railroads  are  used  by  persons  who 
believe  they  are  enjoined  to  keep  the  seventh  day  of 
the  week  as  a  Sabbath,  and  by  others  who  are  con- 
scientious in  keeping  every  day  as  a  day  of  holiness. 
These  persons  are  all  taxed  to  support  them,  and  they 
can  never  be  placed  on  a  footing  with  other  men,  if 
their  conscientious  rights  are  not  equally  attended  to. 

Our  railroads  have  been  designed  for  public  high- 
ways, under  regulations  necessary  for  their  preserva- 
tion, and  the  legislature  has  no  more  right  to  put  any 
other  restrictions  upon  them,  than  it  has  to  interfere 
with  our  State  or  turnpike  roads.  Travelling  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week  is  expressly  permitted  by  the 
laws  of  the  State,  and  I  am  not  aware  of  any  differ- 
ence in  principle  between  travelling  by  water  and  by 
land.  Sunday  has  been  considered  a  lucky  day  for 
seamen  to  leave  port,  and  raftsmen  travel  on  the  river 
by  hundreds  when  the  water  suits  them.  I  believe 
no  idea  is  ever  expressed  that  this  is  wrong.  Why 
then  should  not  the  farmer  take  in  his  grain  with 
equal  propriety  ?  The  grain  is  ripe  in  the  fields  but 
a  few  days  in  the  year.  The  raftsman  who  depends 
upon  accidental  freshets  is  equally  limited  as  to  time ; 
they  stand  upon  the  same  footing.  The  law  makes 
a  distinction,  which  has  no  foundation  in  reason  or 


SABBATH   DAY.  237 

common  sense.  There  are  usually  more  days  suitable 
for  the  raftsman  than  for  the  husbandman  to  take  in 
his  grain. 

The  edict  of  Constantino,  and  the  old  English 
laws,  heretofore  referred  to,  allowed  all  kinds  of  work 
in  the  harvest  field. 

If  our  government  is,  as  is  pretended,  a  civil 
compact,  the  propriety  of  any  laws  of  this  character 
may  be  questioned ;  they  are,  in  fact,  an  incongruous 
mixture  of  church  and  state,  warranted  in  some 
degree  by  old  usages,  but  inconsistent  with  the 
nature  of  our  institutions.  They  have  one  origin, 
a  want  of  reliance  on  the  power  of  truth.  Having 
confidence  in  the  influence  of  religion  on  the  human 
mind — in  its  universality — in  its  sufficiency  to  sustain 
itself  without  the  aid  of  the  civil  power,  I  should 
fear  no  evil  from  abolishing  every  law  upon  the  subject. 

The  Sabbatarians  would  object  to  such  a  course, 
because  they  imagine  that  religion  depends  upon  the 
observance  of  one  day  as  the  Sabbath.  Not  many 
years  since,  it  was  thought  needful  that  religion 
should  be  supported  by  the  power  of  the  State.  The 
opinion  has  prevailed  still  more  generally  that  an 
established  clergy  is  necessary.  Experience  has 
demonstrated  that  these  ideas  are  unfounded,  and  that 
such  institutions  are  not  required. 

The  toleration  act  in  England  was  only  obtained 
after    a   desperate   struggle  with  the   power  of  the 

20 


238  INSTITUTION  OF   THB 

clergy ;  and  yet  that  act  was  fraught  with  unnum- 
bered blessings,  and  enlarged,  in  every  direction,  the 
sphere  of  the  human  mind.  At  a  later  day,  the  cor- 
poration and  test  acts  fell  before  the  same  liberal 
spirit,  and  in  despite  of  the  same  opposition ;  in  our 
own  country,  established  church  governments  in  Vir- 
ginia and  in  New  England,  have  been  successively 
overthrown  after  every  effort  on  the  part  of  the  clergy 
to  sustain  them. 

While  we  have  to  lament  the  continued  existence 
of  so  much  bigotry  and  intolerance,  it  is  pleasing 
to  record  these  examples  of  progress.  The  day  is, 
we  may  hope,  not  far  distant,  when  all  men  will 
acknowledge  the  insufficiency  of  form  and  ceremony 
to  illustrate  a  spiritual  religion. 

Sabbath  conventions  will  then  assume  their  place 
in  history  with  other  sectarian  movements,  which 
have  attempted  to  repress  the  spirit  of  enquiry,  and 
which,  after  a  brief  success,  have  become  a  mockery 
and  a  warning  to  succeeding  generations. 

Enactments  on  this  subject  are  but  a  species  of  sec- 
tarianism upon  a  broader  scale,  the  evils  of  which 
have  been  shown  in  many  ways  in  this  country. 

A  few  years  since,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston, 
a  Catholic  seminary  was  burnt  to  the  ground  by  a 
combination  of  zealous  Protestants.  The  same  thing 
has  occurred  in  Philadelphia.  Catholic  seminaries 
have  been  destroyed,  and  the  community  was  so  cor- 


SABBATH    DAY.  239 

rupted  by  sectarian  influence,  as  to  be.  unwilling  to 
arrest  the  flames.  The  attempt  is  making  to  create 
another  kind  of  sectarianism,  not  less  intolerant,  by 
casting  odium  upon  those  who  observe  the  first  day 
of  the  week  after  the  manner  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. 

The  present  constitution  of  Pennsylvania  minis- 
ters, in  a  slight  degree,  to  this  sectarianism.  It  pro- 
vides on  this  subject,  "  That  no  person  who  acknow- 
ledges the  being  of  a  God,  and  a  futm^e  state  of 
rewards  and  punishments,  shall,  on  account  of  his 
religious  sentiments,  be  disqualified  to  hold  any 
office,  or  place  of  trust  and  profit  under  this  common- 
wealth." From  this  we  are  of  course  to  infer,  that 
persons  who  do  not  believe  in  a  God,  and  a  future 
state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  are  incompetent 
to  hold  office. 

This  is,  in  fact,  so  far  as  it  goes,  a  test  act ;  it  is 
wrong  in  principle,  because  a  civil  code  has  pro- 
perly no  concern  with  religion.  Any  interference 
by  a  civil  power  with  the  conscience,  is  generally 
of  no  avail ;  if  efi'ectual,  it  is  tyranny.  The  in- 
terest both  of  religion  and  of  good  government  is 
advanced  by  keeping  them  wholly  distinct.  They 
have  separate  provinces  for  their  action — distinct 
duties  to  perform — and  they  are  never  combined 
without  decreasing  the  efficacy  of  both.  All  his- 
tory bears  witness  to  the   evils  arising  from  a  union, 


240  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

in  any  form,  of  Church  and  State.  The  bitterest  con- 
tentions, the  worst  persecutions,  the  most  intense  de-' 
moralization,  which  the  world  has  ever  witnessed, 
have  arisen  from  this  cause.  We  may  fairly  con- 
clude, that  in  whatever  degree  it  may  be  accomplished 
in  this  country,  religion  will  become  corrupt,  and  the 
seeds  of  contention  and  tyranny  be  infused  into  our 
government. 

Some  of  the  other  States  of  the  Union  are,  at 
present,  much  more  intolerant  than  Pennsylvania. 
Here,  though  the  principle  is  false,  the  practical 
operation  of  the  restriction  referred  to  above,  is  of 
little  account.  It  can  scarcely  be  called  exclusive, 
because  it  is  almost  impossible  that  any  one  should 
come  within  its  limits. 

There  never  was  a  nation  found,  where  the  people 
had  not  a  belief  in  God,  and  in  a  future  state  of 
rewards  and  punishments.  The  Egyptians  first  built 
altars  and  temples  to  religion  ;  but  before  their  erec- 
tion, there  is  evidence  of  the  universal  belief  in  God 
among  those  who  were  called  Pagans,  and  connected 
with  it,  a  belief  in  future  retribution. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  entire  irreligion.  Truth 
is  as  needful  to  our  preservation,  as  blood  to  the 
physical  frame ;  the  whole  fabric  of  society  rests 
upon  it.  Every  individual  is,  to  a  certain  extent, 
a  religious  man ;  but  what  is  called  religion  has 
been  so  long  prostituted  to  the  worst  purposes,  and 


SABBATH    DAY.  241 

is  SO  much  connected  with  childish  forms,  that  many 
excellent  men  tm-n  from  the  name  instinctively. 
That  man  is  not  to  be  fomid,  who  has  no  respect  for 
truth  and  virtue ;  and  he  who  recognises  the  attri- 
butes of  God,  believes  in  God,  without  regard  to  the 
name  he  bears. 

There  is  but  one  religion  in  the  world.  The  word 
comes  from  religo^  to  hind  anew.  There  is  no  false 
religion ;  this,  in  its  nature,  is  impossible.  We  are 
familiar  with  Catholicism,  Episcopacy,  and  many 
minor  sects  ;  they  are  merely  forms  of  church  gov- 
ernment, which  have  no  necessary  connection  with 
religion.  They  rise  and  fall,  but  religion  remains  un- 
changed. 

Justin  Martyr,  that  eminent  Christian  father  of 
whom  I  have  spoken,  says,  ''All  who  lived  accord- 
ing to  reason  were  Christians,  even  though  they 
w^ere  reputed  to  be  Atheists;  for  instance,  Socrates, 
Heraclitus,  and  others  among  the  Greeks;  Abra- 
ham, Ananias,  Azarias,  Misael,  Elias,  among  the 
barbarians."  (Jews  being  so  considered  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans.)  Whilst  on  the  other  hand, 
they  who  lived  contrary  to  reason,  were  bad  men, 
and  enemies  to  Christ ;  that  "  whatever  right  opin- 
ions the  Gentile  philosophers  entertained  respecting 
the  nature  of  the  Deity,  the  relation  in  which  man 
stands  to  him,  and  the  duties  arising  out  of  that  re- 


242  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

lation,  were  to  be  ascribed  to  the  reason  (logos)  im 
planted  in  their  own  bosoms."* 

This  is  consistent  with  the  doctrines  of  the  New 
Testament — ''  He  is  not  a  Jew  which  is  one  out- 
wardly ;******  ]^■^J^^  i^Q  ig  a  Jew  which  is  one 
inwardly ;  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in 
the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter ;  whose  praise  is 
not  of  men,  but  of  God."  These  views  are  sustained 
by  every  sound  principle  of  philosophy  and  common 
sense,  and  they  introduce  us  into  universal  sympathy 
and  brotherhood  with  the  whole  family  of  man. 

The  Esquimaux  in  the  frozen  regions  of  the  north, 
and  the  Hottentot  basking  under  the  palm  tree,  be- 
neath a  vertical  sun,  so  far  as  they  are  actuated  by 
this  logos,  or,  as  Adam  Smith  calls  it,  "the  man 
within  the  breast,"  are  as  effectually  saved  from  their 
sins,  as  Christians  can  be.  The  institution  of  a  Sab- 
bath has  never  come  to  them ;  but  they  understand 
the  great  moral  principles  of  right  and  wrong  as  per- 
fectly as  we  do.  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  after 
travelling  thousands  of  miles  amongst  nations  which 
we  deem  barbarous,  left  behind  him  this  sentiment : 
"  I  have  seen  human  nature  in  almost  all  its  forms ; 
it  is  everywhere  the  same,  but  the  wilder  it  is,  the 
more  virtuous."     See  Fitzgerald's  Letters.  " 

Plutarch,  the  great  Pagan    philosopher    and    his- 

*  "  Some  account  of  the  writings  and  opinions  of  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, by  John,  Bishop  of  Lincoln." 


SABBATH    DAY.  243 

torian,  in  his  work  against  Coloteus,  says,  "  Examine 
the  face  of  the  globe,  and  you  may  find  cities  un- 
fortified, unlettered,  without  a  regular  magistrate, 
or  appropriated  habitations ;  without  possessions, 
property,  or  the  use  of  money,  and  unskilled  in  all 
the  magnificent  and  polite  arts  of  life.  But  a  city 
without  the  knowledge  of  a  God,  no  man  can  or  ever 
will  find." 

Some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  Platonists 
and  Stoics  appear  to  have  been  as  pure  as  those  of 
the  Christian  period.  If  all  men,  so  far  as  they  are 
actuated  by  the  pure  principles  of  religion,  are 
Christians,  according  to  Justin  Martyr  and  the  New 
Testament,  (and  we  must  believe  this,  unless  we 
believe  in  two  religions,  or  that  they  are  cut  off 
from  salvation  altogether,)  it  will  follow  that  "  the 
dispensations  of  the  law  and  of  the  gospel,"  are  to 
be  referred  rather  to  individual  minds,  than  to  any 
particular  period  of  time ;  and  that  the  opinions  of 
Jews  and  Pagans  concerning  religion  may  as  essen- 
tially exist  with  us,  as  they  did  before  the  coming 
of  Christ.  Mosheim  relates,  as  has  been  mentioned 
before,  that  many  of  the  ceremonies  of  Pagan  wor- 
ship were  incorporated  as  symbols  into  the  Chris- 
tian church,  to  captivate  the  vulgar.  They  seem  to 
exist  almost  in  their  pristine  vigor  in  the  present 
day ;  it  must  be  evident  to  all,  that  image  worship 
may   be   performed   without   the  presence  of  idols. 


244  INSTITUTION    OF   THE 

Jesus  left  no  writings  behind  him  as  a  rule  for  others 
— he  directed  none  to  do  so ;  but,  in  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  touching  language,  he  inculcated  everywhere 
the  practice  of  virtue  and  truth.  Those  who  are  not 
satisfied  with  this,  will  naturally  inculcate  the  neces- 
sity of  Sabbath  days,  and  other  idolatrous  forms. 

Christmas,  as  it  is  observed  in  Pennsylvania,  pre- 
sents an  instance  of  a  festival  day,  preserved  from 
generation  to  generation  by  public  opinion.  The 
public  offices,  markets,  and  other  places  of  the  kind, 
are  closed.  People  who  are  conscientiously  scrupu- 
lous against  observing  the  day,  open  their  stores,  and 
work  as  it  suits  them ;  no  one  is  ofi'ended  thereat ; 
entire  liberty  of  conscience  is  enjoyed.  Many  of  the 
churches  are  opened  and  well  attended  ;  none  are 
made  offenders;  and  the  cause  of  vital  religion,  in 
my  opinion,  would  be  promoted  by  putting  the  first 
day  of  the  week  upon  the  same  footing. 

This  is  a  festival,  flowing  from  the  spontaneous 
feelings  of  the  heart ;  and  as  such,  is  a  day  of  repose 
and  rejoicing.  There  is  indeed  a  Christian  Sabbath, 
which  has  no  application  to  any  particular  time  ;  but 
to  that  quiet  rest,  which  is  the  result  of  conscious  in- 
tegrity, which  no  man  can  give  or  take  from  his  fel- 
low man ;  which  applies  to  every  individual — to  the 
learned  man  and  the  ignorant  man,  to  the  prince  and 
the  beggar.  This  Sabbath  is  enforced  by  no  law ;  it 
is  interrupted  by  none  of  the  ordinances  of  men ;  it 
Is  referred  to  abundantly,  both  in  the  Old  and  Ne^v 


SABBATH   DAY.  245 

Testaments.  Though  they  give  it  no  name,  men  feel 
it,  and  understand  it,  in  their  every-day  walks  of  life, 
in  their  intercourse  with  society,  in  attending  to  all 
the  complicated  duties  of  their  existence.  It  belongs 
to  no  sect,  to  no  chm'ch,  to  no  nation  or  color — to  no 
peculiar  organization  among  men,  but  is  the  natural 
result  of  a  mind  pui'ified  by  a  fulfilment  of  the  Divine 
laws. 

CONCLUSION. 

These  pages  have  been  prepared  without  favor  or 
affection  towards  any  class  of  men,  and  amid  engage- 
ments which  have  prevented  a  more  elaborate  view  of 
the  subject ;  but,  so  far  as  I  have  gone,  I  have  en- 
deavored simply  to  state  the  truth.  I  have  examined 
several  different  translations  of  the  Scriptures,  both 
from  the  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint,  with  notes  and 
annotations  more  extensive  than  the  text ;  have  traced, 
as  far  as  my  leism'e  would  permit,  various  ■  ecclesiasti- 
cal histories,  some  of  them  voluminous  and  of  ancient 
date ;  have  paid  considerable  attention  to  the  writings 
of  the  earliest  authors  in  the  Christian  era,  and  to 
rare  works,  old  and  difficult  of  access,  which  treat 
upon  this  subject.  I  have  read  with  care  many  of 
the  publications  of  sectarians  to  sustain  the  institu- 
tion ;  I  have  omitted  nothing  within  my  reach,  and  I 
have  not  found  one  shred  of  argument,  or  authority 
of  any  kind,  that  may  not  be  deemed  of  a  partial  and 
sectarian  character,  to  support  the  institution  of  the 


246  INSTITUTION   OF   THE 

first  day  of  the  week  as  a  day  of  peculiar  holiness. 
But,  in  the  place  of  argument,  I  have  found  opinions 
without  number — volumes  filled  with  idle  words  that 
have  no  truth  in  them.  In  the  want  of  texts  of 
Scripture,  I  have  found  perversions ;  in  the  want  of 
truth,  false  statements.  I  have  seen  it  mentioned, 
that  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Apology,  speaks  of  Sun- 
day as  a  holy  day  ;  that  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Cesar ea, 
who  lived  in  the  fourth  century,  establishes  the  fact 
of  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  seventh  to  the 
first  day  by  Christ  himself.  These  things  are  not  true 
— these  authors  say  no  such  thing.  But  there  are  none 
to  contradict — the  volumes  are  not  at  hand,  and  they 
pass  for  truth.  I  have  seen  other  early  authors  re- 
ferred to,  as  establishing  the  same  point,  but  they  are 
equally  false — there  is  no  such  thing  to  be  found  in 
them.  On  the  contrary,  evidence  has  accumulated 
upon  me  as  I  have  pursued  the  investigation,  showing 
exactly  the  reverse.  These  statements  are  likely  to 
be  contradicted — they  are  contradicted  every  day,  and 
that  mostly  by  men  who  ought  to  know  better,  but 
they  are  true,  however  much  men  may  deny  them. 

Having  thus  endeavored  to  follow  the  Sabbatarians 
through  some  of  their  devious  wanderings,  I  come 
finally  to  consider  the  objection  to  their  argument, 
which  arises  from  the  entire  accountability  of  man. 

This  is  a  doctrine  worth  all  the  rest ;  books  may 
perish,  but  this  will  endure  forever.     It  is  not  limited 


SABBATH    DAY.  247 

to  one  age  or  sect,  but  applies  to  every  individual 
in  the  world ;  as  people  attend  to  it,  they  understand 
the  internal  nature  of  truth,  that  it  depends  not  upon 
the  ingenuity  of  man — upon  no  J)ooks,  however  excel- 
lent they  may  be — upon  no  rules,  which  the  most  re- 
fined sects  may  establish. 

This  doctrine  has  been  taught  by  all  the  sages  of 
ancient  and  modern  times  ;  it  is  taught  in  our  books, 
in  oui'  schools  and  in  our  meeting-houses  ;  above  all 
it  is  the  teaching  of  our  own  bosoms.  If,  then,  it 
is  true,  it  leaves  no  room  for  one  day  or  time  to  be 
more  holy  than  another.  We  are  born  for  active 
exertions ;  without  them  we  should  perish ;  and  we 
perform  our  duty  to  God  as  well  when  we  take  care 
of  our  physical  frames  as  when  we  perfect  our  moral 
character.  There  is  no  true  ground  for  the  distinc- 
tion between  secular  and  religious  affairs.  Every 
action  of  our  lives  is  moral  action ;  everything  in- 
volves religion. 

There  is  a  principle  of  harmony  throughout  the 
universe.  In  physical  affairs,  it  may  be  traced  from 
the  order  that  marks  the  solar  system,  to  the  minutest 
insect  that  crawls  on  the  ground.  In  all  the  opera- 
tions of  men,  there  is  a  striving  after  harmony,  an 
effort  after  perfection.  The  child  who  makes  his 
tiny  coach,  and  the  artificer  of  the  splendid  steam- 
ship, are  actuated  by  the  same  principle  ;  it  is  this 
harmony,  applied  to  mind,  which  forms  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  human  character ;   so  far  as  it  prevails, 


248  INSTITUTION   OF  THE 

every  man  is  a  religious  man,  and  every  act  of  his 
life  is  an  act  of  worship. 

Everything  that  we  do  has  relation  to  this  great 
harmony  of  the  world.  "VVe  cannot  fail  to  perceive 
that  the  greatest  events  hang  upon  the  most  trivial 
causes. 

Shall  these  causes,  on  which  so  much  depends,  be 
considered  of  no  account  ?  or  how  shall  we  draw  the  line 
of  distinction  ?  It  cannot  be  done,  it  does  not  exist. 
But  we  can  cut  the  knot  we  cannot  untie ;  make 
every  day  a  day  of  religion,  and  feel  that  we  are  ac- 
countable for  every  action  of  our  lives.  So  far  as 
man  does  this,  he  comes  into  the  universal  harmony 
of  truth.  Let  me  not  be  told  that  these  principles 
are  adapted  only  to  men  of  refinement ;  it  is  not  so  ; 
they  are  applicable  to  all.  All  feel  them  according 
to  their  capacity,  though  they  may  never  have  thought 
of  giving  language  to  their  sensations. 

Feelings  of  this  character,  put  an  end  at  once  to 
the  distinction  of  sects  and  days ;  they  embrace  all 
the  religion  which  exists  in  the  world.  The  means 
which  would  be  most  likely  to  produce  that  reforma- 
tion so  much  needed  in  society,  would  be  to  impress 
man  with  the  idea  that  he  is  just  as  accountable  one 
day  as  another ;  that  the  sanctuary  of  the  Most  High 
is  ever  open  in  his  own  bosom ;  that  every  place  is 
God's  temple,  and  that  his  altar  should  be  erected  in 
man's  own  heart. 


Date  Due 

^^^^^m. 

1 

[ 

f 

Princeton  Theologjcfl 


1012  01003  2359 


iliiiii 


yijiii 


wmm 


